Road warriors prepare for hearing

Blue Mountain Watershed Trust is rallying the troops for the upcoming battles in the war to keep County Road 91 open, and protect natural features and habitat.
During a virtual forum Tuesday evening, members called on sympathizers to support the cause in whatever way they can, by writing to decision makers, and donating to hire experts for an upcoming hearing. Up to 75 people were in attendance for the meeting moderated by Carl Michener, who said the cause comes down to aggregates and protecting the Niagara Escarpment.
A pre-conference hearing date has been set for Feb. 24 to jointly hear a proposed amendment to the Niagara Escarpment Plan (NEP) and an appeal of the denial of a development permit for the reconstruction of 26/27 Sideroad Nottawasaga, all relating to the closure and transfer of County Road 91 to Walker Aggregates. A hearing date will be set afterwards.
“To maintain our party status, which allows the watershed trust to present expert witnesses and to cross examine Clearview’s experts we need to raise some money,” said Michener, adding that they are looking to raise about $30,000 for engineering, environmental and fisheries experts. “Why now?” he said. “Now is the moment of truth. This is where the final decision with the Environmental Review Tribunal will stand. Frankly, things aren’t looking too bad for our side but we need to keep the pressure on right now.”
To recap, a 2014 Joint Board decision granted approval to expand Walker Aggregates’ Duntroon quarry. Under that decision, some of the parties to the hearing (Township of Clearview, Walker Aggregates and the County of Simcoe) were directed to enter into a Road Improvement Agreement to close a portion of County Road 91 in order to expand the quarry, and to make improvements to 26/27 Sideroad to make it an all-season road to replace the county road.
The whole plan was initiated by the County of Simcoe who wanted to download the road when it became apparent how many upgrades would be necessary to accommodate the aggregate.
The expansion of 26/27 Sideroad became the subject of a development permit application, which was refused by the NEC in November 2015, and has since been appealed. During the appeal process, additional environmental work undertaken by consultants on behalf of the township identified that certain aspects of the road works would result in the removal of 1.2 ha of natural heritage and key hydrologic features within the existing right of way. This was not known when the amendment was originally submitted.
The township requested an adjournment of the hearing since the policies of the NEP in 2016 prohibited development in wetlands. This triggered an application to amend the NEP. In October, the Niagara Escarpment Commission decided that the Sideroad 26/27 application be referred to a Hearing and that it takes no position.
Clearview council decided to appeal the Niagara Escarpment Commission’s decision to deny the township permission to reconstruct Sideroad 26/27 from the 10th Concession to Grey Road 31 based on a “strong recommendation” from its solicitors at Barriston Law.
All of the meetings related to the sale of the road and the subsequent appeals have been held behind closed doors.
A public meeting was held in May 2019 to hear comments about the application to amend the NEP but the closure of County Road 91 was on most people’s minds.
There has been a lot of opposition to the proposed closure of County Road 91, at least half of those filling council chambers that day were Grey-Highlands residents. There were also a number of County Road 91 residents who said they can’t wait for the quarry portion of their road to be closed because the traffic is a big concern.
Blue Mountain Watershed Trust takes issue with the impact of proposed work on 26/27 Sideroad, a steep, seasonal road that traverses Niagara Escarpment Plan protected lands.
“There are wetlands on either side, there are seeps in the roadbed itself, there are animals that migrate back and forth across this very quiet, little-travelled road, and species-at-risk as well,” said Michener. “Our big issue as an organization is really around the environment.”
They say the upgrade would have negative impacts on trout fisheries and habitat of the Eastern small footed bat, not to mention cutting off a main arterial road.
As part of the opposition, the group is proposing a potential alternate route through the existing quarry that would negate the need to close County Road 91.
For more information and to make a tax deductible donation, visit watershedtrust.ca.