Longtime Conservation Group Moves To Appeal Fort Erie NASCAR Race Track Plan To Ontario Municipal Board

By Doug Draper

The Niagara-based Preservation of Agricultural Lands, one of the oldest citizens groups dedicated to conservation in the province, has launched an appeal before the Ontario Municipal Board of a plan to build a NASCAR speedway facility on rural lands in Fort Erie.

PALS is concerned that decisions by the Town of Fort Erie and Niagara’s regional government that allow such a massive facility on more than 800 acres of agricultural lands outside the town’s urban boundaries literally paves the way for the loss of more of what remains of our rural lands to this kind of development.

Fort Erie’s town council sees the proposal by a consortium called Canadian Motor Speedway as a great economic and tourist opportunity for the municipality, drawing tens-of-thousands of racing fans to the region each and every time races are held. But not everyone in the town embraces the idea – at least not for lands outside Fort Erie’s urban boundaries.

Many of Fort Erie’s rural residents living in the vicinity of where the the proposed speedway would go argue that the impacts from such a facility, including noise, pollution and traffic, would forever diminish the quality of life in their community, and deflate the value of their homes and farms.

Niagara At Large is posting the full text of PALS’ appeal below. It is followed by an “urgent action bulletin” to citizens in Niagara and elsewhere to contact Jim Bradley, Ontario’s Municipal Affairs Minister, and Brad Duguid, the province’s Minister of Energy, Public Infrastructure Renewal, and press them to appeal the speedway plan before the OMB  because, argues the bulletin, it violates the province’s own Growth Management Plan.

Niagara At Large encourages you to share your own views on this issue in the comment boxes available below the following materials and to click on www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on this and other matters of interest or concern to residents in our binational Niagara region.
The Preservation of Agricultural Lands
Society (PALS)
 
 
Working to Protect the Best Farmlands in Canada Since 1976
Box 1090, St. Catharines ON L2R 7A3
March 10, 2010
Mr. Kevin Bain, Clerk
Regional Municipality of Niagara
2201 St. David’s Rd., Thorold L2V 4T7
 
Re Appeal of Niagara Regional Official Policy Plan Amendment No. 2-009.
The Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society, (PALS), requests referral of Niagara Region Official Policy Plan Amendment No. 3-2009. Our appeal is to the amendment in its entirety.
1) Overall Reason for Appeal
In requesting the appeal of Amendment No. 3-2009 to the OMB, PALS is motivated by the desire to retain the Good General Agricultural designation on the 827 acres of farmland in Fort Erie that compromise the lands that are the subject of our appeal .
This designation will be replaced in favour of a “Special Policy Area”, in order to facilitate the construction of a facility known as the Canadian Motor Raceway, along with extensive ancillary services, which include retail outlets, light industrial development and a campground.
2) Detailed Reasons for Appeal
a) Report From Niagara Region Devalues Agricultural Significance and Capability of Subject Lands
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At the outset, PALS wishes to stress that the prime motivation for our appeal is that we believe the extensive area of farmland that is the subject of the Amendment, is protected under Provincial Policy, as stated both in the comprehensive policy statement under the Planning Act, and the more stringent, Growth Management Plan, regulations under the Growth Management Act. The root of the error made by the Regional planner in his report PWA 121-2009, December 9th 2009, to Council, on this matter, is to understate the protection the subject lands receive under this land use planning framework.
PALS’ view of the significance and protection provided by Provincial Policy to the subject lands was quite eloquently expressed by a Provincial task force looking into this issue, co-ordinated by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. (MMAH). They noted that, these lands are “predominately Class 2 soils and part of a large contiguous prime agricultural area designated in the Niagara Region and Fort Erie Official Plans.” (MMAH, 2010 )
The MMAH position is an excellent statement of why the subject lands are protected by Provincial Policy, and why, given an adequate land supply for such a facility elsewhere in the Niagara Region, Amendment 3-009 should be denied. Provincial Policy, as MMAH correctly states, is to protect large blocks of Class One to Three Agricultural land, and this is what the subject lands are.
It should be stressed that in their review, MMAH was aware of and did not accept, the characterization of the subject lands by the Regional planner as predominately Class Three. It should be noted however, that according the Provincial Policy Statement, (PPS) it does not matter if lands are Class Two or Three. Both are to be protected from urban boundary expansions. The criteria for such expansions under the Growth Management Plan, are very strict and require on a region wide basis, the achievement of population densities that have not been met in Niagara.
Regional Niagara Planning rationale in this case undermines planning rationale for the protection of all the farmland in the Niagara Region outside the Greenbelt, which is subject to the regulations of the Growth Plan. The report, for instance, disparages the “use of the land for common field crops.” This type of agriculture is typical of the best lands in Niagara, outside of the Greenbelt.
b) Prime Agricultural Land of Subject Lands is Important To Southern Half of Niagara Region.
The Regional Niagara report also ignores how the subject lands are important to the
agricultural economy of the southern half of Niagara, especially the area east of the
Welland Canal and south of the Niagara River. It states correctly that its loss would
not” have major impact on the available supply of quality agricultural land in the Niagara Region.” This is certainly true when Niagara as a whole is considered, with its Greenbelt lands being dominated by grapes, intensive horticulture and tender fruit. It is not true however, when the supply of land for southern Niagara, dependent on combinations of
three pasture and common field crops, is considered.
Another significant omission in the report, is the lack of reference to the large areas in Fort Erie, Port Colborne and Wainfleet outside of urban boundaries, which are not designated as Good General Agricultural Lands. These lands are designated as “Rural.” They are intended not to be protected by the PPS. If as has been claimed by the proponent, the motorway requires a rural setting, it is to such lands that such a facility has been directed to by the PPS. There has never been an examination of the potential for such a location for this project.
On the other hand, however, it should be stressed that by being designated as “Good General Agricultural”, the subject lands are considered to be among the best in the southern half of Niagara. Shortly after the formation of the Niagara Region, these lands were carefully identified to be protected from the supposedly rural recreational use that the speedway pretends to be.
c) Niagara Region’s Comments Denigrate Good Balance Between Agricultural and Natural Areas in Carolinian Zone
The most disturbing of all the comments used in the Regional planning a report to justify Amendment 3-009, is the assertion that agricultural protection considerations should be discounted since, “Nearly 35% (16.5 hectares 288 acres) of the site is occupied by natural heritage features such as woodlands, wetlands, and watercourses.”
These comments ignore the Niagara Region’s own policies to protect natural areas in the rural countryside. As very recently developed through Amendment 40 to the Niagara Regional Official plan, these policies recognize that natural habitat should be encouraged to take up at least 30 per cent of the rural area, in order to protect bio-diversity and watersheds.
The subject lands and their vicinity are one of the few areas in which this has actually been achieved in Niagara. This has been produced largely by the patient ecological restoration work of many farmers, some of whom have been the most vocal critics of the motorway, which is to be facilitated through Amendment 3-009.
d) Comments by Niagara Region Ignore Harm of Proposal To Adjacent Farmers
Nowhere in the Regional Report is there any discussion of the harmful impacts of the proposed development on existing agricultural operations. These have been detailed by
Fort Erie farmers, many of whom have carefully studied the operations of similar NASCAR facilities in the United States.
One farmer in particular, Mr. Richard Jukosky, who would if Amendment 3-009 were approved be immediately adjacent to a new urban boundary, and has operated a thoroughbred racehorse farm at this location for 35 years, made detailed comments.
4 Through research on the internet, he found disturbing examples of trespassing and vandalism in the United States associated with the camping in the NASCAR tracks which the re-designations associated with Amendment 3-009 seek to facilitate.
Mr. Jukosky indicated that “Approving the zoning change to allow camping overnight and parking for the projected total of 13, 351 sites will completely destroy our ability to raise and keep horses on their property. It would make it completely useless for any livestock and it would destroy the peace and enjoyment of our property.”
Currently in the vicinity of the lands impacted by Amendment 3-009, Fort Erie has an excellent urban boundary to protect farmers such as Mr. Jukosky. The urban boundary near his farm is located about over a mile to the south, through lands that are predominately forested. To the west, an urban boundary is formed by the Queen Elizabeth Highway, a firm barrier against trespass and vandalism. This problem of the removal of a stable and adequately buffered urban boundary, is nowhere addressed in any of the municipal planning reports.
e) Use of Term “Special Policy Area” Disguises True Intent of Urban Boundary Expansion Which Conflicts With Provincial Growth Plan.
It should be recognized that the subject lands are intended to be on full urban services, based on expansions of piped services that would require a crossing of the Queen Elizabeth Expressway. Consequently, the proposed expansion constitutes an urban boundary expansion. The term “Special Policy Area”, which would eliminate the current Good General Agricultural designation, is intended to obscure this basic reality. This also is a devise to provide a loophole from the application of the Growth Plan, which imposes strict tests for any urban boundary expansion, even in cases where the subject lands are not prime agricultural lands defined by the PPS.
The Niagara Region undertook a study conducted with detailed public consultation and the benefit of a report prepared by Dillon Consultants. This concluded that since the Niagara Region had a 43 year supply of residential land, and an even greater supply of land in other categories, that no urban boundary expansions were required. This clearly indicates that this proposal, which is designed to accommodate a raceway and parking facilities with a 150 acre footprint, does not justify an urban boundary expansion., and it can be included within the urban boundaries of Fort Erie
The proponent’s request for an urban boundary expansion may appear to be justified on the basis of the large acreage of 827 acres to be removed from the Good General Agricultural designation. This is because of the large acreage for light industrial uses, retail outlets and camping facilities. These uses can be accommodated within the urban boundary in other locations- some through existing facilities
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f) Municipalities Fail to Recognize Environmental Benefits of Agricultural Lands In Associated With Natural Habitats.
The impact of the loss of agricultural land is trivialized by the reports of Fort Erie and the Niagara Region since they are based only on agricultural capability. There are a number of environmental benefits from the 827 acres continuing to be designated as Good General Agricultural Land. All of these are ignored in the municipal reports that were relied upon by the Niagara Regional Councillors that approved Amendment 3-009.
One of the most important reasons to maintain existing urban boundaries and to protect remaining agriculturally-zoned land from urban expansion is watershed protection. Such benefits are especially important on the subject lands which comprise the entire headwaters of Miller Creek. This Creek is a recognized Class One Provincial Fish Habitat. It provides habitat for endangered species, including the Grass Pickerel and Wood Turtle. If the headwaters of this creek are urbanized, the increased pollution and stream flashiness resulting will negatively impact on the survival of these species
One of the reasons that Fort Erie has good Carolinian habitat is because of the mix of forests, crop land, pastures and old fields. For instance, farmlands in such situations provide a refuge for one rare Carolinian species, the Bobwhite, which apart from Walpole Island, is uniquely common in Fort Erie. This species benefits from “active agricultural land and..hay crops.” Its presence however, is dismissed by the developer’s EIS since the species – rare in most of the Carolinian zone where its habitat in Ontario is restricted to – is “locally common.”
h) Lack of Re-designation threatens Provincially Significant Wetland
Although because of the intervention of MMAH, through a task force chaired by Victor Doyle, the Amendment 3-009 does not contemplate any alteration of this Provincially Significant Wetlands Complex, which contains rare Pin Oak Forests, the proponent has not indicated its re-designation as same. Now the race track will be built in a different location, with environmental impacts that are impossible to identify.
The entire design of the facility is in a state of flux. Part of the motorway which was originally intended to cross over the provincially significant wetland, will have to be re-
designed, since according to Amendment 3-009 the wetland can not be subject to site alteration. The Environmental Impact Statement which was the basis of Council’s approval of the development is now outdated. The failure of the proponent to identify where the motorway is now to be located indicates that the issue of the protection of the significant wetland on these lands has still not been resolved.
Sincerely,
 
Dr. John Bacher, (PhD) PALS Researcher

***************Urgent Action Bulletin****************
Call on Provincial Government to Stop Fort Erie Motorway !!!

One of the most dangerous assaults on the mosaic of farmlands and forests of Carolinian Canada is underway in Fort Erie to facilitate the approval of the proposed Canadian Motor Speedway, a NASCAR like amusement racing track. This would involve the re-designation of 827 acres of land in the Fort Erie and Niagara Region Official Plans which are currently designated “Good General Agricultural Land”, to a new designation of “Special Policy Area.” Unless the province appeals this re-designation of agricultural land to the Ontario Municipal Board by March 15th, it is likely to be approved.
In opposing the motorway there are three points to stress.
1. Fort Erie has one of the best preserved Carolinian habitats in Canada, comparable in extent to only the Walpole Island and Six Nations native communities. Half of the town is in natural habitat, predominately swamp forests. Taking out such a large swath of habitat, will harm many rare and diverse Carolinian species.
2. The motorway proposal would result in the urbanization and subsequent degradation of a Provincially Significant Class One Fish habitat Miller Creek. The creek provides habitat for endangered Grass Pickerel and Wood Turtle. The creek’s mouth near the Niagara River is also an important muskie breeding habitat.
3. The re-designation of 827 acres of Good General Agricultural Land is the biggest loss of farmland in Niagara since the introduction of regional planning. It represents some of the best land for farming in south east Niagara. A third of it has been carefully reforested by conservation minded farmers over the last half century. Several area farmers have spoken out against the proposal, because of expected problems of vandalism associated with similar motorways in the United States. It would violate Ontario’s Growth Management Plan, which should prohibit all urban boundary expansions in Niagara.
The persons who will ultimately make the decision to whether or not to appeal the Speedway to the OMB are the Minister of Municipal Affairs and the Minister of Energy and Public Infrastructure. They are Jim Bradley and Brad Duguid.
Please email
Jim Bradley- Minister of Municipal Affairs jbradley.mpp@liberal.ola.org
 
Brad Duguid-Minister of Energy, Public Infrastructure Renewal bduguid.mpp@liberal.ola.org