Steve McGuinness
Special to Niagara Now/The Lake Report
It has been a triumphant November for developer Benny Marotta and daughters.
Their new Stone Eagle Winery is now open. It launched following a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by town councillors and mayors from several Ontario municipalities. Soon after, it hosted a gala reception for delegates to the G7 foreign ministers’ conference.
But not everyone in town is so enthused about the family’s local development projects.
This bad blood began during the last town council term. A battle over a planned townhouse development at Randwood Estates, proposed by Marotta’s Solmar Development Corp, first got trapped in a development freeze. Then, it was stalled by an Ontario Land Tribunal ruling upholding the town’s rejection of a rezoning application, on appeal.
Unchastened, a refreshed Randwood plan is now back in our planning department’s workflow. This isn’t the first time Solmar has aggressively asserted its private property rights in a fight against committed community interests. Retired Caledon mayor Marolyn Morrison has a decade-long litany of battle tales to recount. She thwarted an unwanted Solmar subdivision there beginning in 2004.
Meanwhile, excavation continues at the Marotta’s Two Sisters Resort Corp. project at the former Parliament Oak school site. An underground parking garage will soon be poured. That project sparked neighbourhood anger after heavy equipment began removing soil before a town building permit was issued.
Recently, the development charge that Niagara Region assesses on underground parking became another flashpoint of contention. A development charge raises revenues for municipalities, offsetting the costs of infrastructure to service new developments.
Most Niagara municipalities do not charge development charges on underground parking, but the region does.
NOTL town council passed a motion urging the region to issue a waiver, valued at $904,819, on a portion of their development charge applicable on the Two Sisters Resorts’ underground garage.
Niagara regional council is an unwieldy, bloated body. Mayors of all local councils sit on it, as well as other directly elected representatives. Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa and elected Coun. Andrea Kaiser represent NOTL
Last Thursday, the NOTL Residents Association broadcast a red alert to members: the council debate on the Parliament Oak development charge motion would ensue later that day. An e-mail blitz urging its defeat began. The arguments made at the debate were equal parts outlandish, misleading and inscrutable.
Our lord mayor claimed that the two-level parking plan was responsive to residents’ preferences. That’s revisionist. Neighbours actually eschewed any commercial development on what was once an institutional property.
Where once stood a school building surrounded by open playing fields, the new resort’s landscaped areas may well remain gated to all except registered guests.
Underground parking also poses unique environmental risks because the building’s footings extend well below the high water table at a site close to One Mile Creek. Displaced water poses a flooding threat to surrounding homes. It may also de-water nearby tree roots, which certainly isn’t environmentally green.
The adequacy of the engineering and peer review reports supporting the planning application also rests on unstable ground.
NOTL Residents Association volunteers, with extensive experience in geology and mining, delivered a scathing update at the organization’s recent AGM. They maintain that the applicant’s engineering report contains a disclaimer of liability for reliance placed on it by third parties.
Our head of planning leaves for Grimsby this week. These contentious matters remain behind for her interim replacement to manage.
Several councillors suggested the region was charging development charges on underground parking by oversight. Another suggested amending the bylaw instantly to correct “the mistake.” The region’s chief administrative officer explained the impossibility of a quick fix, because a full-fledged review process would first be required.
Most importantly, the CAO could not provide assurances that offsetting the waived fee without imposing a higher tax levy, as required by the motion, was even practically achievable. He cautioned that legal advice was still being sought. His warnings fell largely on deaf ears.
When the vote was called, council passed it 14-11, with the mayors’ block united in favour. Multi-millionaires received a 20 per cent off early Black Friday discount on the $5 million total development charge.
Many town residents are now left less eager to try the Stone Eagle. This “victory” may not be one to toast. It leaves a bitter taste in many taxpayers’ mouths.
Steve McGuinness, CPA, is retired from a career in financial management on Bay Street. He holds degrees in political science and business administration. He offers reflections on public policy issues within our community.
