Guelph Tribune - January 09, 2009

Secrecy key in land plan

By Doug Hallett, Guelph Tribune
News

Jan 09, 2009

Secrecy isn't easy when 120 ordinary citizens will be privy to a possible development deal on the former Lafarge quarry site. The Howitt Park Neighbourhood Residents' Association plans to try anyway.

"It's going to be tough to get that number of people to really keep this hush, but we're going to do the best we can," association president Ron Foley said Wednesday.

The association's members will vote Sunday evening on a tentative deal for development of the former Lafarge quarry site. The association aims to prevent any details of the possible deal from emerging afterwards.

Only association members in good standing will be allowed into the meeting. They will all be asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement, said Foley, and the media will be kept out.

The reason for the secrecy has to do with the nature of the mediation conducted from September to December by the Ontario Municipal Board, he said.

The talks led by an OMB mediator included the residents' association, the city, Armel Corp. and Silvercreek (Guelph) Developments Ltd., which wants to develop the 54-acre former gravel pit site in central Guelph.

Foley said the mediation process was held "without prejudice," which means any statements made or evidence presented there can't be used subsequently at an OMB hearing.

If mediation ends up failing, the "slate is wiped completely" before the hearing, he said in an interview.

"There is a lot of risk to all parties if this isn't handled properly, as with any legal process," Foley said, noting that an OMB hearing is a kind of legal process.

The developer launched the OMB challenge last year against what it claimed was city council's "refusal or neglect" to rezone the vacant land, which now has industrial zoning. Both a zoning change and a change to the city's Official Plan would be needed for the development to happen.

The mediation this fall was an attempt to reach a consensus of opinion among the parties as to how the former Lafarge property can be properly developed in an effort to avoid the need for a long, expensive OMB hearing.

The scheduled 10-week hearing was originally set to start on Jan. 12, but the start date has been delayed to the following week.

The "offer of settlement" that emerged from the mediation process is expected to be considered by city council behind closed doors early next week.

The Howitt Park Neighbourhood Residents' Association is holding a vote on the deal Sunday, before it's considered by council, because it thinks it can get a better turnout on a Sunday evening than on a weeknight, Foley said.

The lawyer and planners hired by the association for the OMB fight will be at the 7 p.m. meeting at the Guelph Bible Chapel to answer questions, after the tentative deal is explained to members.

Foley said he didn't expect the association will make public any details of the offer of settlement, no matter which way Sunday's vote goes.

"We'll probably wait for the city to disclose it," he said. "They are more at the helm than we are at this point."