Losing protected lands to a golf course?

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Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00

Written by editor

PAOV — Residents of a small Ontario community are fighting back against a developer’s planned expansion of the local golf course. The developer has requested the local council endorse their application for a provincial Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) - which allows the provincial government to override local planning authorities with minimal expert or public consultation. The Thunder Beach Alliance is urging their council to reject the request to endorse the MZO. Show your support by signing the petition now.

2,745 have signed Thunder Beach Alliance’s petition. Let’s... get to 5,000!

Frank Morneau and his family have submitted a formal request to Tiny Township Council, asking that Council pass a motion supporting the Morneau family’s request for a Minister’s Zoning Order from the Provincial Government in order to proceed with a project they describe as the “Morneau Community Project”. Among other features, this Project contemplates the development of 41 building lots (23 at Cedar Point side, and 18 on the Thunder Beach side), the expansion of an existing five-hole golf course to a nine-hole course and the construction of a three-story clubhouse which would offer food and beverage to the public on a commercial basis.

The Project raises numerous environmental concerns regarding loss of protected lands, eutrophication of the water at Thunder Beach and traffic and road safety issues. It will have a negative effect on the Cedar Point and Thunder Beach communities, specifically those living on West Shore Drive and the north shore community of Cedar Point. In the materials they have submitted to Council, Mr. Morneau and his legal counsel represent that the Project has “broad public support among the owners of the waterfront properties along West Shore Drive”. This is false. There has been no meaningful consultation of the property owners in either Thunder Beach or Cedar Point. In fact, there has been a total lack of transparency. In addition, the current in-force zoning does not permit the creation of the 41 new lots (as proposed), let alone the operation of what would be, for all intents and purposes, a commercial restaurant on the lands in question.

In addition to these fatal flaws, the MZO process is a tool intended to support key government priorities such as the creation of affordable housing, long-term care facilities and strategic economic recovery projects. It is an abuse of process to use it for the likes of the Morneau Family Project. Moreover, as Mr. Morneau is well aware, the MZO process would deprive impacted property owners of their legal right to procedural transparency, full disclosure of all relevant information and to a fair hearing at which they can make their views about the Project known. Furthermore, there is no public appeal process once an MZO is issued.

We the undersigned urgently request that Council reject the Morneau Project and application for a Minister’s Zoning Order.

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