Mayor, chief planner talk about blasting quarry application at community meeting

April 20, 2023 · 0 Comments

Community expressed their opposition to the quarry proposed north of Alton

By Zachary Roman

The Alton Legion was packed on Tuesday night.

On April 18 at 7 p.m., the Forks of the Credit Preservation Group (FOTCPG) held a community meeting there. In attendance were FOTCPG president David Sylvester, FOTCPG lawyer David Donnelly, Town of Caledon Mayor Annette Groves, Caledon’s chief planner Antonietta Minichillo, and more.

The purpose of the meeting was to provide an update on an application for a below-water table blasting quarry from CBM Aggregates, a division of Brazilian conglomerate Votorantim Cimentos.

The proposed quarry would be located between Mississauga Road and Main Street north of Charleston Sideroad (Regional Road 24). It would also include portions of land south of Charleston Sideroad, and east of Main Street north of Charleston Sideroad.

In order for a quarry to be built and operated there, Official Plan and Zoning bylaw changes would be required.

CBM Aggregates has applied for those changes. Sylvester said the quarry is the largest to ever be applied for in Caledon, both in terms of its size and its impacts.

Donnelly was the first to speak at the meeting, and he noted that southern Ontario currently extracts 13 times the amount of gravel than it actually uses each year. He said Ontario’s policy regime around aggregates is “terrible” and that it needs to be improved, starting in Caledon.

He said Caledon has an opportunity to do this through the time gained from its Interim Control Bylaw (ICBL) that was passed in October 2022 after advocacy from the FOTCPG. ICBLs are used to buy municipalities breathing room to finish studies and strengthen their policies.

Caledon currently has the weakest aggregate policies out of the top 11 aggregate-producing municipalities in Ontario. Donnelly wants to see Caledon use the time bought by the ICBL to develop strong, prescriptive policies around aggregate.

If Caledon is able to adopt new aggregate policies by the time the ICBL’s one-year limit is up, those new policies can be applied to CBM Aggregates’ application, which was received in December. Donnelly stressed the importance of Caledon meeting its deadlines.

While there’s currently no legal requirement for quarry applications to be relayed to Council and the public the moment they arrive at Caledon’s planning department, the FOTCPG and concerned residents were still frustrated they were not immediately made aware of CBM’s proposal, considering its magnitude and importance for Caledon.

Mayor Annette Groves was the next to speak and said she would not make excuses for the fact Caledon residents were not immediately made aware of CBM’s proposal in December.

Groves herself was surprised to have not received a heads up about the proposal, but ultimately said she was willing to take the blame for the issue and promised to improve communication from the Town moving forward.

Groves spoke of how the Town is forming an aggregate working group, how it has hired an outside expert in the field of aggregate, and how the Town is working to strengthen its policies.

“We want to make sure Caledon remains a place where we can continue to enjoy the great outdoors and quality of life we’ve come to enjoy,” said Groves.

Minichillo took the microphone next and started by committing to bringing aggregate experts in to work with the Town on creating new policies, and on processing CBM’s application, which is massive. She also addressed the initial lack of communication with the community on the CBM file.

“It’s not customary for staff to tell the community or Council about an application before the letter of complete application comes in,” said Minicillo. “That said, given the sensitivity of the file, we absolutely needed to do better here.”

Minichillo said Caledon is working to implement the findings of a joint Peel aggregate review and Caledon aggregate rehabilitation plan. It’s also working to update policies in its official plan and zoning bylaw, said Minichillo.

“All of our current official plan aggregate policies will be reviewed,” said Minichillo. “We’re also meeting with some of our best practice municipalities to gather what we can learn from their experience and apply that here.”

Minichillo said it’s important to note that an application to the Town’s planning department being deemed complete doesn’t mean Town staff or Caledon Council endorse it in any way. It just means the applicant has submitted all the required documentation, and a detailed review of the application can commence.

The Town is assembling an inter-agency review team to process CBM’s application; this means working with partners such as Credit Valley Conservation and the Region of Peel to benefit from their expertise. The Town will also be working with the aggregate working group and FOTCPG.

Caledon is going to be retaining a firm that specializes in aggregate, and already has hired a lawyer with aggregate experience.

“We’re committed to doing better on the communications front, and we’re reviewing our processes and policies to that effect,” said Minichillo. “You have our commitment [that we’ll] work through this in a transparent and neutral way… this application is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. It is going to take significant investment. The process takes a long time, but we are in this for the long haul with you.”
Caledon residents can sign up for email updates about the CBM application by sending an email to [email protected]. To view a full list of materials submitted by CBM, or to offer feedback on the proposed quarry, those interested can visit the following link: caledon.ca/en/town-services/cbm-caledon.aspx#Material-Submitted.