Steer hopes to relocate at Cashtown Corners
Area residents packed into Clearview Township council chambers in Stayner Monday to both oppose and support a proposed rezoning that would allow Steer Enterprise to relocate to Cashtown Corners.
Steer is hoping to build a facility for its growing business, particularly a service centre that will accommodate up to 30 large trucks and farm vehicles.
Steer is looking to purchase a 10-acre parcel of property severed from a farm field on the southeast corner of County Roads 42 and 9. The rezoning hinges on council’s opinion as to whether or not the diesel engine repair business meets the criteria for the agriculturally related commercial exception zone.
Agricultural related business accounts for 50 per cent of the work done at Steer, said controller Judith Crawford, and is considered to be a growing customer base. It is the only authorized agricultural service centre for Cummins engines in the area.
Tim Young started the business in 2004 with a two-person mobile repair unit and by 2007 there were seven staff members setting up shop in Glen Huron. Today Steer employs 28 people and there are plans to hire another eight if the relocation and expansion goes ahead.
Steer is hoping to build a 2,350 square metre service centre that would allow repair work to be done indoors.
Opponents of the rezoning said at a public meeting Monday that the business is unsightly because of the large trucks that sit out front of the current Glen Huron location.
Marnie and John Hillier said during a public meeting August 22 that the business would be more suited to an industrial park and that the development at Cashtown Corners would not be visually suitable as a gateway to Creemore for people coming to cottage country and that it sets a precedent for other development. They said they are not so much worried about the noise as the increased traffic coming and going from the facility.
Representing CARA – the Creemore and Area Ratepayers Association – Valerie Dyer said the use doesn’t support the exception as it is not directly related to agriculture, saying Steer was just trying to make it fit.
She said it would be appropriate if it were only to repair farm vehicles or to dispatch a mobile unit to farms.
“That is not the business they are asking you to permit,” said Dyer.
She also said it is unwise to develop farmland.
“I am deeply ashamed that CARA doesn’t approve of anything that creates jobs,” said Maureen McLeod, adding residents should support a business that can help people make a living in the community.
Susan MacLeod, a co-op teacher at Collingwood Collegiate Institute, spoke about the role Steer plays in helping students get a feel for a skilled trade. Many local students have gone from a co-op placement into an apprenticeship program at Steer, sometimes then using those transferable skills to get jobs elsewhere, she said.
Brian Bell said council is faced with a difficult decision because agricultural land should be preserved as half of the country’s prime farmland is in Ontario and it is being developed at a rate of 300-350 acres per day.
Young told The Echo the point of the expansion is to give them enough room to better accommodate the vehicles and improve working conditions for the employees, who are currently working in the elements all year round.
Steer has customers throughout Simcoe and Grey counties and Young said there is opportunity to move to Grey County but he wants to stay in Clearview, where he is from and most of his employees live.
They have looked for more than two years to find a suitable new location, said Young, and Cashtown Corners has proven to be the most suitable because it fits with the development occurring there now (the gas station revitalization and the relocation of Huron Tractor), there is little residential development in the area and it is central to its customer base. Young said they have looked at other properties including areas in the Stayner industrial park but there are building restrictions due to lot size, availability and overhead power lines.
Andrew Tupling of Tupling Farms also spoke in support of the rezoning at the public meeting. He said he uses more than 40 vehicles to harvest 40 million pounds of potatoes and relies on Steer to keep the vehicles operational.
“Without them, I don’t know what we would do,” said Tupling. “It’s an important decision to support them and what they do. Most companies in the area are working with Steer.”
Council will consider the comments made at the public meeting and staff is still accepting submissions in writing. A decision will be made at a future meeting.
“They have a big service area and we are lucky to have them in our township,” said Councillor Thom Paterson.
