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People living in the Village of Blair are now turning to Ontario’s Superior Court, trying to stop plans for a huge warehouse.
Blair Engaged is a local group made up of residents near where the 100,000-square metre warehouse is planned. They’ve filed an application asking the Superior Court to review the city’s decision to move forward with this controversial project.
Cambridge Coun. Shannon Adshade said she found this unexpected.
“I thought we had done public consultations, delegations.. I thought we’d gone through all the proper procedures and this would be finalized by now. I guess not.”
The plan had already been approved by Cambridge city council earlier this year despite strong opposition from some Blair residents who feel the warehouse doesn’t fit with the area’s heritage conservation goals.
Alan Van Norman, co-chair of Blair Engaged, said they want to meet directly with those making decisions about the project.
“We would be willing to consider mitigation measures.. moving the building 50 or so metres farther west, building a proper berm to isolate the building from the village. I think having truck traffic enter and exit on Fountain Street would alleviate a lot of our concerns,” he said.
Could they change how talks happen?
Adshade suggested that instead of going through city council as a go-between, they should try talking directly with Broccolini Real Estate Group, the developers behind it.
“Rather than jumping to court, if they tried to express more concerns with how this development could sit in the community, that might be the best route,” Adshade said.
This map of where the warehouse will go in Cambridge was part of a package from the Broccolini Real Estate Group presented to council on April 6. (Broccolini Real Estate Group/Cambridge City Council agenda)
She isn’t sure if city council could set up an in-person meeting between Broccolini and Blair Engaged right now but noted that Broccolini has already made “a lot of compromises.”
“We have a truck cap, which I think is very important: 262 trucks per day. We also are putting up a living wall that I think will shield development from the Village of Blair and I think those are two really, really important compromises,” Adshade said.
“That’s why I reconsidered my vote in that matter because if it went to the Ontario Land Tribunal, they didn’t have to include that in their proposal and I was afraid we’d lose those accommodations.”
But Van Norman feels these steps aren’t enough.
“Even at their truck cap.. that’s still going to be a big impact on the residential portion of Blair. That truck traffic will go right past a dozen homes, many with small children. There are options that were not fully explored,” he said.
“The whole development will be looming over the village.”
Mayor strongly supports warehouse plan
In response, Mayor Kathryn Mc Garry told Cambridge Chronicle that they’ve been informed about what Blair Engaged is doing next and their legal team is reviewing everything carefully.
“Mayor and council followed all policies, procedures and legislation in respect to this process and staff will defend this robustly,” her statement read.
“All decisions made about this matter were done so in open council.”
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