Mulmur Township council members deferred a decision on the Arbour Farms gravel pit Wednesday.
Council was compelled to wait on a decision to allow the proposed gravel pit, now in the review process for 15 years, to proceed after a deputation of school bus safety on Airport Road.
Natalie Kotyck, speaking as a member of Community Safety and Business Preservation Association, asked council to deny the Arbour Farms application until issues of public safety, specifically bus routes on Airport Road, are addressed. She raised the concern that if something were to happen, the township could be found liable, at least in part.
Kotyck said the county road is not safe due to its typography and driver speed and adding more gravel trucks will only add to the problem while hindering tourism.
She is asking the township for support in her request that the province address the issues of liability.
“In the interest of Ontario property taxpayers who deserve greater equity in liability law and lower insurance premiums, we request that the province completes the reform of joint and several liability prior to granting a license to applicants who intend to use County Road 18 as their haul route,” said Kotyck.
“Should the province still decide to approve licenses for applicants who use County Road 18 as their haul route then we request that the province issue indemnities to the lower tier municipalities and their taxpayers who have, in effect, had no choice in the approval process.”
Kotyck was scheduled to make the same presentation to Dufferin County councillors Thursday and to Clearview Township later this month.
After an in camera session to hear legal advice, Mulmur Mayor Paul Mills said, given the new information, council decided to defer a decision to give Kotyck a chance to make the presentations and allow further discussion on the matter.
Adam Krehm, the proponent, said the deferral is forcing the proposal to the next level and he is taking it to the Ontario Municipal Board.
“I think no comment is the best reaction,” said Krehm after the decision to defer. “The process continues.”
Councillor Keith Lowry acknowledged that Arbour Farms has done everything that Mulmur has asked throughout the planning process.
Arbour Farms planner Brian Zeman, of MHBC, said from a planning perspective there is a hold on the project but nothing identified as a requirement to lift the holding symbol to allow the project to proceed.
Mills said the issue will come back before council.
“We will have to make a decision eventually,” he said.
The Arbour Farms application would see 41.7 of the 80 hectares that Krehm owns with his brother 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.