Plan, zoning amendments requested for below-water table limestone quarry

By Zachary Roman

CBM Aggregates, owned by Votorantim Cimentos, wants to build a below-water table limestone quarry north of Alton.

Votorantim Cimentos is the largest cement company in Brazil and the eighth-largest in the world. 

On March 23, planning firm Glen Schnarr and Associates submitted official plan and zoning bylaw amendment requests to the Town of Caledon on behalf of CBM for the quarry.

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. 

CBM wants to change Caledon's official plan to re-designate the subject lands from “General Agricultural Area, Rural Lands and Environmental Policy Area to Extractive Industrial Area B and Environmental Policy Area.”

It also wants to change Caledon's zoning bylaw for the subject lands from “Agricultural (A1) and Environmental Policy Area 2 (EPA2) to Extractive Industrial with an exception.”

CBM needs the changes in order to be able to obtain a license under the Aggregate Resources Act for their planned limestone bedrock extraction. According to documents submitted to the Town by CBM, “controlled blasting” will be used to extract material in the proposed quarry.

The Forks of the Credit Preservation Group is a group of Caledon residents dedicated to protecting Caledon's environment and the Credit River by stopping this proposed quarry. It's hosting a community meeting at 7 p.m. on April 18 at the Alton Legion to discuss CBM's recent amendment requests.

CBM had to submit documents such as a transportation study, visual impact assessment, noise assessment, water table report and more. To view a full list of materials submitted by CBM, or to offer feedback on the proposed quarr, those interested can visit the following link: caledon.ca/en/town-services/cbm-caledon.aspx#Material-Submitted

More information can be found, and feedback provided, by phone as well. Residents can contact Sean Kenney, senior planner at the Town, at 905-584-2272 ext. 4199 from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Kate Hepworth, a resident of Ward 1, who has been an advocate around aggregate issues in Caledon for years, said she was surprised to see the CBM application come through after Caledon passed an interim control bylaw (ICBL) for high potential aggregate resource lands in October 2022.

The bylaw was enacted to prohibit new gravel pits or quarries in Caledon for one year. 

“The ICBL essentially isn't worth the paper it's written on,” said Hepworth

She says she's worried that even if Council doesn't support the quarry when it comes time for their decision, the Ontario Land Tribunal will, if CBM appeals Council's decision. 

The Citizen will be covering this story in more detail in the weeks to come.