No Golf Course at Pebble Ridge - A Return to Planning Sanity?

The long and costly saga of the proposal for a golf course and 35-lot subdivision on the height of land behind the new Cedar Ridge subdivision in Concession 20 has finally come to an end. On May 3, 2002, Minutes of Settlement were signed between the developer, Tiny Township, Simcoe County, the Beausoleil First Nation and a neighbouring landowner. They stipulate that no golf course will be permitted, and that only 23 lots may be developed. Strict conditions are imposed to protect the environment and water supplies in the area. The environmental zoning provisions of the Tiny Official Plan are upheld.

See the eloquent article in this issue (page 10) about the significance and importance of the ridge and its environment to the Beausoleil First Nation. Would that all Tiny residents were so environmentally aware!

In contrast to this attitude, the developer, Lyle Blair, felt that he was justified in proposing the golf course and subdivision above his very upscale Cedar Ridge development despite the fact that much of the land lies in an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI), has good prospects for archeological sites, and lies atop the aquifer supplying the Beausoleil First Nation community at Cedar Point with its water supply. It is well known that golf courses require prodigious amounts of water, and use large amounts of fertilizers that contaminate underground and surface water bodies.

That the Official Plan, let alone common environmental sense, did not permit such developments didn’t seem to bother the developer one little bit. When given permission by the new Tiny Council but refused permission by Simcoe County, he pushed the matter to a long and costly hearing and appeal process in front of the Ontario Municipal Board. He may have had good reason to feel that the new Council would be more sympathetic, since he supported them strongly during the last election and the wife of one of the new councillors is his sales representative.

The many pre-development studies and the lengthy legal wrangle must have cost Mr. Blair well into seven figures. Taxpayers of Tiny also paid considerable sums in staff time and legal costs in the process, much of which can be recovered from the developer (although an amount in the high five figures still remains unpaid).

Think about the huge savings in time, money and aggravation that could have resulted if some sane level of moderation had prevailed at the outset, if only a 23-lot subdivision with appropriate environmental safeguards had been proposed!

Elsewhere in this issue of The Tiny Cottager (page 7) you can read the story of another totally inappropriate development being proposed at the south end of the Township near Woodland Beach. The proposal for a huge campground and amusement park flies in the face of both reason and environmental sanity, yet a developer is seriously proposing it, and it will no doubt cost the Township (read, YOU the taxpayer) lots of money and time to get rid of it.

When will they ever learn?