By Pepper Parr
March 28, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
In June of 2016 Justice Gibbons handed down his decision on the law suit between the Burlington Air Park and the city of Burlington. The decision rendered by Justice Gibson on the Air Park case is 50 pages in length.
The 200 acre Air Park property where 2,000,000 tonnes) of land fill was dumped without a site approval plan from the city.
An appeal of that decision is to be heard at the Ontario Court of Appeal at Osgoode Hall in Toronto. A small band of people from the northern part of the city are expected to attend and hear what the Appeal Court has to say.
The city has asked the Appeal Court to uphold Justice Gibbon’s decision.
At issue was an ongoing dispute between Airpark and the City with respect to fill operations conducted by Airpark at the Airport. Between January, 2008 and August 2013, Airpark allowed and profited from the deposit of over 500,000 m3 (approximately 2,000,000 tonnes) of land fill at the Airport.
On May 3, 2013 the City served Airpark with an Order to Comply with its ByLaw. The Airpark did not accede to the order and asserted that it did not need to comply because its fill operation was under federal, not provincial, jurisdiction.
On November 13, 2013, Murray J. ruled against Airpark on the constitutional division of powers issue, and on June 11, 2014, the Court of Appeal for Ontario upheld this ruling.
Vince Rossi at a community meting held in a barn a couple of hundred yards from the end of one of the airport runways.
The Air Park and the city sued each other again when the Air Park failed to apply for a site plan approval.
The city was seeking two orders:
a) a mandatory order requiring the respondent Burlington Airpark Inc. to remove all fill deposited on the site between January 1, 2008 and August 2, 2013 except for soil underlying existing runways and hangars;
b) in the alternative, a mandatory order requiring Airport to file an application under By-law 64-2014 for the 2008-2013 work carried out before By-law 64-2014 had been passed and while the prior By-law 6- 2003 was in effect (the latter by-law having been since repealed in its entirety);
c) an order continuing the terns of an order made by Miller J. on August 2, 2013 respecting the deposit of fill at the Airport;
d) costs on a substantial indemnity basis; and,
e) further and other relief.
Justice Gibson granted the city its application in part.
Airpark, in contrast, seeks an order dismissing the City’s application,
It is the Appeal of the Justice Gibson decision that will be heard on Tuesday.
Ken,
While I cannot comment further on this since I’m being sued for engaging in, what I thought was a Democratic process, I can say that you nor anyone else in Burlington has ever being held hostage by a small number of people living near the Airpark.
The citizens of Burlington should have engaged themselves in the Democratic process but chose not to. Burlington citizens continue to be silent and that is why this situation exists, and will continue to exist, for many years, at your expense.
Have you even bothered to visit the site?
The Air Park has certainly been a bad neighbor.
It’s too bad this wasn’t handled better by all parties including the City. I feel we are held hostage by a small number of people living near the Air Park.I feel Burlington could have enjoyed a long term absolute advantage in both jobs and commerce in having a small regional airport.
Instead of blowing out our brains with litigation it would have been nice to see a triple P solution carry the day. All this talk about employment lands, jobs per hectare, and funding the BEDC is laughable when we have a guaranteed win in North Burlington for the taking.
thank-you, Ken
Ken,
The hostage-taker was, and still is, and even smaller number – one, the owner of Air Park.
He didn’t apply to anyone, not even the Fed, who he says has authority.
It was left to the people living near the Air Park, and having to live with this illegality, to try to get something done.
They were even sued, and this is a special type of hostage-taking.
I can agree with your points on economic opportunity, but please get the facts, of what is an outrage, straight before you blame the wrong people.
This is all on Air Park.