Roxodus rezoning drums up concerns

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Despite ongoing frustration, residents who are worried about a large scale music festival being held in Edenvale say if the event must happen, let it be a trial instead of approving a three-year term.
A meeting was held Monday to hear public input to a request from Roxodus organizers for a rezoning that would allow them to proceed with this year’s event from July 11-14 and hold an additional 10 days of events in both 2020 and 2021. The request is for the approval of a temporary use bylaw, to allow for a “festival grounds” use on a property at the corner of Highway 26 and 15/16 Sideroad, which will be considered by Clearview council on June 10. This would give the municipality enough time to get through an appeal period before the event day, unless there is an appeal filed.
The meeting got quite heated with residents accusing proponent Mike Dunphy of being non-communicative, evasive and lacking in compassion when dealing with the concerns of the neighbours. They worry they will be inconvenienced, that the noise from the four-day concert – featuring more than 20 bands including headliners Nickelback, Lynard Skynyrd, Kid Rock and Aerosmith – will be disturbing and they are concerned about the safety of security of their properties.
Some said they have been offered compensation and security details but have also been asked to sign waivers and non-disclosure agreements, which make them uncomfortable.
Council chambers were packed for the meeting when about a dozen people came to the microphone, mostly to ask questions which they have not been able to get answers to.
“I don’t want this to happen unless it is done right,” said one speaker.
Director of Community Services Mara Burton said the township has questions too, but they are planning to have all the information for council members before they are asked to make a decision.
Dunphy started the meeting by giving an overview of the event, saying the economic impact would be more than $5 million, that Stayner businesses and local charities would be involved. He also said that they bought a full service fire truck and hired a platoon chief for the event, since Clearview’s department isn’t equipped for an event attended by 40,000 people.
Dunphy ended up leaving the meeting because of the perceived hostility of the crowd, leaving lawyer David Donnelly to answer questions for more than two hours.
Skydive Wasaga Beach owner Leslie Farkas said the event will not be profitable for him since he has been grounded due to closure of the airport during the event. He said he has yet to see a promised compensation agreement and he is in the same predicament as other airport based businesses.
Residents also expressed their concern over the work that is being done at the Edenvale site even though the temporary use bylaw hasn’t been approved and the Ministry of Transportation hasn’t signed off on highway access.
“The thing that really irritates me is that this is a done deal,” said one resident. “And if you are telling me it’s not, that’s crap.”
People were also irritated by the fact that they would have to have an event sticker displayed on their vehicle in order to turn left onto Highway 26 during the event. This is due to the traffic management plan’s no-left turn off Highway 26 approach. Traffic is being routed from Highway 400 to County Roads 90 and 10 to access Highway 26.
All of the available documents are posted on the township’s website. Follow this pathway www.clearview.ca/building-planning/current-projects/roxodus-temporary-use-law

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  • glenda
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    new reports submitted by NVCA and the County of Simcoe not in favor of this at all. These reports were not available during the public meeting but released shortly after in Darren Vella’s planning report, recommending the council defer their decision. The reports state many wrong doings and are very interesting to read. Many of the neighbours have asked Clearview why, and we get no answers. Please read this report. it is on the clearview website under Darren Vells’s report

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