Guelph Tribune - January 13, 2009

Land development meeting put on hold

News

Jan 13, 2009

Members of the Howitt Park Neighbourhood Residents' Association are still waiting for a chance to vote on a tentative deal for development of the former Lafarge quarry site.

A meeting of the association scheduled for Sunday night, where the offer of settlement was to be explained and a vote held, was cancelled.

Association president Ron Foley said Monday that the parties involved in Ontario Municipal Board mediation on the issue couldn’t finish "massaging" the deal in time for the meeting.

"There are a few more things that need to be looked at," he said in an interview. The tentative deal "isn’t finished to the point where you can present it and vote on it."

The association still intends to hold a vote, but it hasn't yet set a new date, Foley said. "We'll see what happens this week."

It appears the scheduled start of a 10-week OMB hearing on the issue is being delayed as well, Foley said.

The association e-mailed its 120 members Friday evening to notify them of the cancelled meeting and followed that up with phone calls on the weekend, he said.

Mediation talks aimed at avoiding the need for a long, expensive OMB hearing were conducted by the OMB from September to December. The parties involved included the residents' association, the city, Armel Corp. and Silvercreek (Guelph) Developments Ltd., which has proposed a 400,000-sq.- ft. commercial development on the 54-acre vacant site in central Guelph.