One by one at last weekend’s public meeting on the subject, residents of Mulmur Township stood to express their dismay with Arbour Farms, a proposed gravel pit that would add an average of 16 truck trips per summer daylight hour to the traffic on Airport Road.
The potential for dangerous driving conditions on the narrow, hilly thoroughfare was the number one concern of the roughly 150 people who attended the meeting, but it was not the only issue; people asked questions about the project’s noise impacts, its effects on groundwater in the area, its effects on the natural environment and the likelihood of the site being rehabilitated as promised.
Not one person stood to speak in favour of the proposal, and a fair amount of anger and indignation was directed at proponent Adam Krehm, who did not formally address the crowd and only stood at the end of the meeting to introduce himself in response to requests from the audience.
Outlining the project on behalf of Krehm and answering questions from those present was Brian Zeman, a partner with MHBC Planning, the firm shepherding Arbour Farms’ Aggregate Resources Act application and its rezoning and official plan amendment applications before Mulmur Township.
The topic Saturday was the Mulmur applications, which would see 41.7 of the 80 hectares that Krehm owns on the east side of Airport Road between 20th Sideroad and County Road 21 redesignated from “Rural” and “Natural Area” to “Extractive Industrial” in the Township’s Official Plan and rezoned from “Rural” and “Environmental Protection” to “Extractive Industrial” in the Township’s Zoning Bylaw.
The plan is for Arbour Farms to extract up to 500,000 tonnes of gravel from the site per year for around 25 years, given the fact there is a total of 8.7 million tonnes available in the deposit. Extraction is proposed to extend no more than 20 metres below the water table, and shipping would be limited to 7 am to 6 pm Monday to Thursday and 7 am to 12 noon Friday from March to October, and 8 am to 5 pm Monday to Thursday and 8 am to 12 noon Friday from November to February.
According to Zeman, it’s rare to find such a gravel deposit on negligable farmland (the property consists of Class 4 to 7 agricultural land), with no significant environmental features, within 500 metres of only two homes and sitting on an arterial road.
But residents who stood to speak questioned the suitability of Airport Road for an influx of truck traffic, with its large hills, narrow shoulders and lack of passing lanes. As it stands, Arbour Farms is proposing a turning lane at the entrance to the gravel pit, but no other road improvements.
“This proposal threatens not only our way of life as Mulmur residents, but it threatens the lives of those who travel on Airport Road,” said Michael Monahan.
“Thirteen years ago my father was killed by one of those trucks,” said another resident, before appealing directly to the members of Mulmur Council. “Please, use your common sense – there will be blood on your hands on Airport Road if you approve this and let it go through.”
Jane Pepino, the chair of CORE (Conserving Our Rural Environment), the citizen’s group that has been opposing the Arbour Farms proposal since it first became public over a decade ago, listed CORE’s objections in four areas: noise, traffic, natural environment and planning. She urged those present to donate to the organization to help fund any OMB appeal that might become necessary in the future.
According to Brandon Ward of Cuesta Planning, the firm working for Mulmur Township on the file, a report could come back to Council on the application sometime this summer. Arbour Farm’s ARA application has not yet been approved.
A selection of planning documents regarding the application, including the presentations from Zeman and Ward last Saturday, can be found here.