Clear-cutting stumps nearby residents; Environmentalist wants total ban
Copyright 2001 Toronto Star
October 6, 2001
By Leslie Ferenc, YORK REGION BUREAU CHIEF LANA SLEZIC/TORONTO STAR LANA SLEZIC/TORONTO STAR
Residents living near a new housing development on the Oak Ridges Moraine are mourning the destruction of a forest and wildlife habitat cleared to make way for houses.
They say the provincial government shouldn't have granted exemptions to a six-month building freeze on the watershed until a plan to protect it was in place.
"We're not tree-huggers and we're not against development, but this is so totally wrong, and we feel helpless," said an angry Rob Ens, who lives on Bayview Ave. near the construction site.
Over the past few weeks massive trees were felled on a roughly 20-hectare site near Bayview Ave., south of Bloomington Rd., in Richmond Hill. The land is owned by Ballymore Homes, which intends to build about 40 houses on the east portion of the property. Company officials did not return calls.
"It just doesn't make sense to allow exemptions and the continued destruction of the moraine when a plan to protect it is about to be approved. This should never have been allowed," said Ens.
In May, Queen's Park froze all development on the environmentally sensitive moraine so it could come up with a protection policy. Nine weeks later, Municipal Affairs Minister Chris Hodgson announced 37 exemptions for housing projects those with zoning, draft approval and signed subdivision agreements already in place.
That opened the door for 4,250 new homes on almost 4,000 hectares on the moraine, mostly on developments south of Stouffville Rd., east of Yonge St. in Richmond Hill.
A provincial advisory committee, set up to draft a protection policy, released its recommendations last month, which are expected to form the foundation of a provincial law next month. The new law is needed to replace the development freeze, which expires Nov. 17.
But Ens and his neighbours say piecemeal development, like the one in his area near Lake Wilcox, which was exempt from the moratorium, is already seriously damaging the moraine.
As the sound of buzzsaws reverberated through the neighbourhood recently, shocked residents, many of whom didn't even know the thickly treed forest was slated for development, called police in an effort to stop the clear-cutting. They also consulted with a lawyer and Richmond Hill's planning department, which confirmed the development could go ahead.
"Our hands are tied," Ens said with resignation. "It's very frustrating."
As of yesterday, the site had been clear-cut and preparations were under way to strip topsoil, Ens added.
Ens maintains that a new storm-water management pond on the site encroaches on land designated highly environmentally sensitive by the Ontario Municipal Board in 1997 land which can't be disturbed. He's outraged that massive old trees which he said had been cordoned off by Richmond Hill parks department to save them had also been cut down and mulched.
Richmond Hill planning commissioner Janet Babcock did not return calls to confirm this.
"I'm angry because there is plenty of land that could be developed elsewhere land that doesn't have old trees, wetlands and wildlife habitats," said Bayview resident Sara Fradkin. "This piece of land should never have been touched."
She also fears scores of cars from the new subdivision will be funnelled on to local streets that can't handle the traffic.
The Oak Ridges Moraine is a 160-kilometre ridge of sand and gravel that stretches from the Niagara Escarpment to Cobourg, providing the headwaters for more than 30 rivers and streams flowing into Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe.
The only way to truly protect it is to ban all development, including new roads such as the proposed Bayview extension, according to Glenn De Baeremaeker, head of Save the Rouge Valley System.
Earlier this month, York Region council awarded a construction contract to extend Bayview Ave. through the Jefferson Forest on the moraine, despite a court appeal from Save the Rouge.
That appeal is to be heard in Divisional Court later this month. Environmentalists will argue that the controversial link from Stouffville Rd. to Bloomington Rd. should never have been approved because it will destroy the natural habitat of the Jefferson salamander, which they say is nearing extinction.
The group will ask the court to set aside provincial approval of an environmental assessment, saying the salamander was just recently discovered to inhabit the area.
"This is one of the most sensitive sections of the moraine," De Baeremaeker said, adding that the Ballymore subdivision is near the forest and the proposed Bayview extension.
"It's not that we're trying to be mean or nasty to developers or take anyone's land away," he continued. "Developers with old approvals should be compensated with negotiated land swaps. The province must look at this. Now, there is no land or money on the table."
As for the exemptions, he said, "It's stupid to say you can't cut the forest today, but it's okay if you got approval (to do so) five years ago. If you truly want to save the moraine, stop all development."