OLT Week 1 Recap: Conflict of Interest?
Tuesday March 5th, 2024
The hearing began with the delivery of opening statements from Millcroft Greens, The City, Millcroft Greenspace Alliance (MGA) and MABD to the Tribunal. The Region and Conservation Halton announced that they would only be listening to the hearing. Millcroft Greens also provided a non-opinion overview of the proposed development and surrounding area for the Tribunal. We noticed that Mr. Tang, the City’s legal counsel, commented that Millcroft Greenspace’s lawyer is experienced and well respected by the Tribunal.
Highlights from the Millcroft Greenspace Alliance’s Opening Statement included:
Introducing the original development of the golf course lands as an early example of a Low Impact Development (LID) for stormwater purposes.
Our lawyer, David Donnelly, spoke about the August 4, 2014 storm and other significant rainfall events that are having an increasing impact with climate change.
The 11.7 acres which are proposed to be developed with homes would equate to the flood attenuation of 30 football fields. Mr. Donnelly also noted the temperature record that was set on Monday.
Wednesday March 6th, 2024
We learned from the City’s legal counsel that Conservation Halton (CH) would no longer participate in the hearing. Could it be related to their relationship with ARGO, as evidenced by the announcement of their significant sponsorship of Omnia? We then heard the testimony of Jennifer Lawrence, Environmental Planner for Millcroft Greens. Ms. Lawrence advised the tribunal that there were no flooding concerns on Areas B-E of the golf course lands. Our lawyer joined the hearing to ask Ms. Lawrence a few questions during cross examination about Hurricane Hazel and the August 2014 flood. Unfortunately, she was not aware of the details of these two storms, an indication that they have neglected to consider the dangers of increasing rainfall and its impact on existing homes. Ms. Lawrence was previously a planner with Conservation Halton as evidenced in her CV and testimony.
Thursday March 7th, 2024
Ms. Ash Baron, an Ecologist for Millcroft Greens, presented to the Tribunal. Ms. Ash Baron painted a picture of all the “benefits” of the changes that Millcroft Greens is proposing to make, such replacing the ~400 mature parkland trees with 2,000 trees that are only 5 cm in size. She also detailed the “wetland” that would be created in the spot where the existing Millpond is, and that it would not be incorporated into the new, smaller, offline stormwater pond to be located further East. According to Ms. Ash Baron, Conservation Halton (CH) has confirmed that although Millcroft Greens had offered to dedicate this wetland to CH they are not interested in taking ownership. Perhaps the value of the wetland is questionable? Based on MGA’s research and participation in various City of Burlington Urban Forrest events, Daintry Klein was able to cross-examine Ms. Ash Baron asking a few questions including how many decades it would take, given climate change impacts, for these newly planted trees to attain the size of the current trees. Ms. Ash Barron wasn’t able to provide a concise answer and seemed unaware that the golf course was planted 35 years ago.
Mr. John Richard, Landscape Architect for Millcroft Greens, also presented on Thursday. He outlined that the largest park dedicated to the City would be a linear park consisting of leftover land at the ends of Areas A and B lots, creating a path connecting these two areas. Mr. Tang cross-examined Mr. Richard extensively and pointed out that this narrow parkland is wedged between the CN railway and rear-yards. This is currently the steep-sloped berm and cart path between the 6th green and 7th hole tee-blocks. Parkland dedication is important to the community in reaching City objectives, and the biggest parkland Millcroft Greens is offering is wasteland that has limited use and significant safety issues.
Friday March 8th, 2024
The first week concluded with the testimony of Mr. Shaheen Ahmed from DS Consultants. Mr. Ahmed is a geotechnical specialist on behalf of Millcroft Greens who spent a great deal of time speaking about the current slope stability in Area A, and about the soil conditions throughout the golf course. Mr. Ahmed identified that the soil is very “tight” with low permeability and conductivity. Backed by the research of MGA over the past 4 years, Daintry Klein was able to inquire of Mr. Ahmed about the condition of the soil during hot dry weather. Although Millcroft Greens lawyer objected to our question, Mr. Ahmed offered to confirm that the soil, when particularly dry, would result in “ponding” during a sudden significant and intense rain - but that existing grass cover mitigates this before the ponding is gradually absorbed by the soil.
