[All] Fw: Nelson Aggregates' Application to Permit Expansion of an Existing Blasting Quarry Operation

[Lanteigne]

 This is well done. 

Lulu 

   ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Tony Sevelka <info at intval.com>To: mayor at burlington.ca <mayor at burlington.ca>; rory.nisan at burlington.ca <rory.nisan at burlington.ca>; Stolte, Shawna <shawna.stolte at burlington.ca>; Bentivegna, Angelo <angelo.bentivegna at burlington.ca>; lisa.kearns at burlington.ca <lisa.kearns at burlington.ca>; paul.sharman at burlington.ca <paul.sharman at burlington.ca>; kelvin.galbraith at burlington.ca <kelvin.galbraith at burlington.ca>Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2023 at 09:27:52 a.m. EDTSubject: Nelson Aggregates' Application to Permit Expansion of an Existing Blasting Quarry Operation
  
Mayor Meed Ward and Members of Council, attached is my most recently published paper:Sterilization of Homeowners’ Land and Loss of Property Value Occasioned by Aggregate Extraction in Ontario: A De Facto Taking Without Compensation(June 2023). 
 
  
 
This peer-reviewed paper supports the argument that a homeowner impacted by governmental policies (e.g. zoning and municipal by-laws) that favour a specific property owner (e.g. a quarry operator) that knowingly sterilize or reduce the use and enjoyment of adjoining property, resulting in a loss in property value (home-owner equity), constitutes ade facto taking for which compensation is due. 
 
  
 
Aggregate extraction operations are notorious for causing significant environmental damage, often permanent and irreversible, and when permitted in the wrong geographic locations nearby property owners are adversely and uniquely impacted.
 
  
 
·        Through no fault of their own conduct, innocent property owners near an aggregate extraction operation experience a diminished quality of life, lose the full use and enjoyment of their properties, and sustain a reduction in the value of their properties, for which no compensation is received.
 
  
 
·        The unauthorized and free use of third-party property by a Pit or Quarry results in ade factotaking of an interest in land similar to an easement for as long as the Pit or Quarry remains operational, which, in Ontario, should be assumed to be in perpetuity.
 
  
 
·        A Licence to extract aggregate in Ontario has no expiry date, and annual tonnage figures are not publicly accessible.
 
  
 
·        Given the indeterminate duration of aggregate extraction, municipalities in Ontario need to develop robust land use policies that will protect existing communities, sustain orderly and efficient long-term growth and preserve the quality of life for future generations.
 
  
 
·        In addressing incompatible land uses, the “Preferred Approach” of the D-Series “Guideline” is prevention, which in many cases can only be achieved through appropriate land use planning policies with a long-term view, and imposing setbacks of sufficient width on the offending use (e.g. Pit or Quarry) that do not impede future development opportunities of land owned by others.
 
  
 
“Aggregate extraction has been identified as one of the most controversial land-uses in Ontario (Binstock & Carter-Whitney, 2011; ECO, 2011). This is largely due to the environmental consequences and the social costs associated with aggregate extraction activities (Winfield & Taylor, 2005; Kellett, 1995).
 
  
 
·        In most land-use planning scenarios, aggregate developments are unwelcomed by local residents and there has been a growing amount of public disdain towards proposed extraction projects.
 
  
 
·        This public contempt towards the aggregate industry is largely due to a legacy of poorly managed operations and countless number of abandoned, un-rehabilitated sites that have resulted in social and environmental impacts (ECO, 2005; Pichette, 1995), such as dust, noise, increased truck traffic, and lowered property values.”
 
  
 
According to Bill Langer, a geologist and quarry reclamation consultant who worked more than 40 years with the U.S. Geological Survey, years of detonating explosives cause irreversible environmental damage, including permanently rerouting of natural water systems beyond the boundaries of the quarry site (cone of depression) (Carey, 2022; Green et al., 2005; Langer, 2001):
 
  
 
“[Y]ears of blasting can fracture underground caverns, rerouting natural water systems and displacing local species. The soil and water in quarries are often thick with iron, manganese, and phosphorus, making most former quarry sites hostile to vegetation....”
 
  
 
In the following legal actions, the courts held that the quarry operator must provide the necessary setback (buffer) and refrain from using third-party property to mitigate or avoid deleterious effects of blasting quarry operations and not cast the burden on the adjoining neighbours: 
 
  
 
·        Kozesnik et al. v. Township of Montgomery et al,24 N.J. 154 (1957) 131 A.2d 115
 
·        City Sand and Gravel Limited v. Newfoundland (Municipal and Provincial Affairs)2007 NLCA 5116
 
·        Eastman et al. v. Dewdney Mountain Farms Ltd.(2017), ONSC 574917
 
·        Miller Paving Ltd. v. McNab/Braeside (Township) (2015), CanLII 70369 (ON LPAT)18 
 
  
 
In 2012, a proponent of a 50-acre quarry application in the City of Westbrook, Maine, in a Consent Order (CO) agreed to purchase homeowners properties within a half-mile (805 metres) of the proposed quarry for their fair pre-quarry market value:28
 
  
 
On its face, and in the absence of appropriate separation distances and setbacks, the buyout by the quarry proponent of properties within a half-mile (805 metres) of the quarry at market value appears to be a practical solution for the preservation of property values, but the stipulated distance is unlikely to capture all of the impacted properties, and, depending on the number of properties involved.
 
  
 
Please feel free to use, post or circulate this email and attachment in any manner you consider appropriate.
 
  
 
Respectfully submitted,
 
Forensic Real Estate Appraiser, Flyrock Expert and Concerned Citizen
   
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