By Pepper Parr
February 20th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan finally got to meet the people doing the pre-development work for the proposed enlargement of the Nelson Aggregate quarry on Guelph Line.
Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan
Councillor Nisan had been quite studious and deliberate in making a point of not communicating with the promoters of the project that would, in a couple of decades, have the quarry rehabilitated and turned over to the city and developed into a very large park.
Nisan had said he didn’t want to be influenced by the promoters of the project.
The pre-development application meeting took place at the Cedar Springs Golf Club, which is on the western side of the existing quarry and will eventually, if the application is approved, become part of the current quarry operation.
Nelson Aggregates acquired some property to the south of the existing quarry that will be mined and also be turned over to the public.
That south side of the existing quarry land has a large portion of the property set aside for the at risk Jefferson Salamander.
The development application process is complex and will involve the City of Burlington, the Region of Halton, the Niagara Escarpment Commission and the Ministry of Natural Resources that will meet as a Joint Tribunal Review team
The next step is for Nelson Aggregate to complete their application and present it to all four levels of government. At that point the Region will form the Joint Tribunal, figure out who will represent who on the Tribunal team and the hearings, which will be public, will take place.
None of this is going to move all that fast.
Councillors Bentivegna and Nisan – both share the norther part of the city.
What the community did see at the Pre-Consult meeting on Tuesday was Mayor Marianne Meed Ward along with Councillors Nisan and Bentivegna in the room. The quarry is in Nisan’s ward 3.
There was a city planner in the room who didn’t want to make any comment on the time line that would emerge. Most of the people working on this at this point will probably be retired well before there is a public park in place.
This development is a classic case of long term development. The time line will stretch out for 30 years, perhaps more.
At this point there isn’t a lot of support for the idea of additional quarry development north of Dundas. The people in that part of the city like what they have; they don’t want to see changes.
A computer generated drawing of what Brant Street could look like at some point in the future. Aggregate from the Nelson quarry would be used when it comes time to build.
The development industry needs aggregate for the high rise structures that are going to be built in Burlington. There will be some development south of Caroline in the downtown core but there will be many more high rise towers built around the GO stations.
Burlington’s population is going to grow – that is a given – even if there were to be a change in government.
The growth in population will put some pressure on Spencer Smith Park – there has been no recent word on when the public is going to see anything in the way of a public park in the Beachway. At this point all the Region is doing is picking off the properties that are left one by one.
What the public appears to be missing with the Nelson situation is the time, effort and energy that is put into listening to what the public has to say.
Nelson Aggregate has held 36 hours of public meetings and tours in an effort to keep the public informed. Up to this point the quarry people have been very open and transparent.
The development plans:
Once the existing quarry has been mined out- it will be flooded and turned into a park. The above is a rendering of what the park might look like.
The light grey area is the existing quarry. The dark grey on the left is the golf club property that will be quarried and then turned into a park. The dark grey at the bottom is on the south side of the Second Line. It will be quarried and then turned into a lake. The land to the right if the southern piece is home to the Jefferson Salamander and is to be left in its natural state.
This is an enlargement of the land on the south side of Second Line. The grey area is where the man made lake will be. The area to the right is Jefferson Salamander territory and will be left in its natural state.
This drawing shows the full extent of the quarry property. The blue is the existing quarry that is reaching the end of its life cycle as a quarry. The green borders are property Nelson Aggregates either owns or is in the process of acquiring. The red ii where new quarrying will take place once all the applications have been approved.
Rehabilitation has already started on that portion of the main quarry that is mined out. That dark brown area in the top centre is where fill has been poured over the side of the quarry so that grass can be grown.
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Will you be able to swim in the water?
Or will it be ice freakin’ cold?
Or full of goose p**p and other unsanitary items?
30 year development timeline. I won’t be here to use it. Good for future generations. 🙂
I think it would be a shame if the City of Burlington did not jump at what Nelson Aggregates is offering. A beautiful park will replace the old quarry free of charge. In Nelson’s Aggregates words “The nearly 1000-acre Mount Nemo City Park will be more than twice the size of High Park in Toronto and have dozens of uses – from rock climbing to beaches. Over the next decades, year-by-year, parcel-by-parcel, our goal is to transfer ownership of all the land to the public for recreational purposes.”
I do understand the land owners concerns of the on going development of an extended quarry but if they bought into their properties in the last 50 years they would have realized they were buying into property near a quarry.
The benefits for ALL of Burlington residents would be in the park and restoration of the old quarry. I was at their latest meeting and although cordial reception from the audience, the speakers were not going to change the minds of the cabal of residents there.
Perhaps Nelson Aggregate should make a presentation at say the Burlington Performing Arts Centre, and in each Ward. This is not solely a Ward 3 issue. If they are willing to offer Burlington an outstanding park and Recreation Centre.
I think ALL OF BURLINGTON RESIDENTS should have a say in this decision before it costs the taxpayer thousands of dollars at LPAT which with the Burlington record we will lose. Nelson Aggregate does not need to offer Burlington anything and yet they are. Burlington should not be swayed in their decision unless they involve ALL of Burlington Citizens. So in this case I would side on the benefits of the many out way the concerns of the few.