A year ago March, apprehensive neighbours of this proposed development on concessions 20 and 21 gathered in the Council Chambers for the largest and longest planning meeting of the last CouncilÕs term. The development had come before Council because it requires Official Plan and zoning changes.

The developer - Lyle Blair of Blairhampton Properties Inc. - had some support, but most citizens were outraged at the proposal. They argued that the environmental assessment done by the developer played fast and loose with environmental protections in the old Official Plan, and that no thorough archaeological assessment had been made, even though there had once been a Huron village in the area and artifacts had often been found. There was worry about the impact of so many new wells on existing wells, about drawing water from the Bay for the golf course and about insecticide and fertilizer run off into the Bay and local wells. There was a strong sense of the need to protect the regional Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI) that will be impacted.

A second public meeting was promised, once the developer had addressed the concerns raised at this meeting.

A few days before the last Council was to consider its planner's report on Pebble Ridge, the developer lodged an Appeal with the Ontario Municipal Board against both the Township of Tiny and the County of Simcoe. The Township was named for failing to make decisions about the Official Plan and zoning by-law applications, and the County for failing to make a decision on the draft plan of subdivision application. The developer's Appeal to the OMB took all these decisions out of the hands of Tiny's Council and County Council, unless it was withdrawn. The Appeal was, in effect, a threat: make the necessary moves to allow the development to go forward or face an expensive OMB hearing.

Then the last Council, at its meeting on October 30, 2000, considered the report prepared by its consulting planner, Nick McDonald of The Planning Partnership. His report did not support the proposed development, because, in his professional opinion, it did not conform to the Township's Forest Resources Policy. Council passed a motion (3-2, Gordon Salisbury and Frank Hughes in opposition) which indicated that if Council had been able to make a decision, it would not have supported the proposed development.

The current Council reopened the question at its first meeting, by seeking a "peer review" by Ainley & Associates Limited of The Planning Partnership's report. This was an unfortunate choice of assessor (and the Federation made a deputation to Council on the subject), as the firm had done questionable work for the Township in the recent past, work for which the Discipline Committee of the PEO found Ainley & Associates "guilty of Professional Misconduct" and Ainley had "agreed that there was a basis for concluding that there was professional misconduct."

Nonetheless, Council went ahead with the peer review. When it arrived (and it reviewed not just Mr. McDonald's report, but the whole history of reports and correspondence to do with the proposal), it took the view that the proposed development conforms to the governing Official Plan of Tiny Township and that it falls within the acceptable level of development under the Forest Resources Policy. It felt that the many outstanding matters associated with servicing the subdivision could be dealt with as conditions of draft plan approval. (The promised second public meeting was not held.) The current Council then passed a motion saying that, had the Blairhampton proposal come before it, it would have amended the governing Official Plan and have approved the relevant zoning by-law, subject to a number of conditions.

Simcoe County staff planners felt otherwise. They argued that many important concerns should be dealt with PRIOR TO draft plan approval &Mac220; basic matters like demonstrating that adequate water is available. They questioned the proposed lot size (0.6 hectares or 1.5 acres), noting that the 1994 OMB hearing on the first phase of the Blairhampton development had determined that lots having a minimum of 0.8 hectares (2 acres) were required to maintain the woodland features, and raised a series of concerns about the impacts of the proposed golf course. County Council accepted the planners' recommendation that the staff make representations to the Ontario Municipal Board on behalf of the County to defend the County's lack of decision.

On March 13 at the Prehearing Conference concerning the Blairhampton Appeal, the full range of concerned opposition to the proposal became apparent - the County, the Beausoleil First Nations of Christian Island, the Cedar Point Ratepayers Association, the Kingswood Acres Beach Association, and 3 neighbours, all owners of substantial blocks of land. The hearing is scheduled to begin on September 4 at the Township Offices.

The Board Member who chaired the Prehearing Conference encouraged all parties to meet and attempt to resolve their differences. A date was set. But Mr. Blair decided not to attend, so this attempt at averting an expensive hearing failed.

Tiny's new Official Plan, which has broad public support, puts the Environment First. There is no question that if the Pebble Ridge proposal had been brought forward under the new Official Plan, it would have been turned down. It is highly discouraging that this Council has seen fit to support Lyle Blair in his Appeal to the OMB.