The last full council meeting a couple of weeks ago went long…very long by some standards. It was close to midnight by the time councillors, staff and some candidates made their way back home.
There was a public meeting on the Derry Green Corporate Business Park (James Snow Parkway, north to the 401, east to roughly Trafalgar and then down to the creek) but the last part of the discussion came from a motion by Councillor Cindy Lunau to expand the hamlet known as Campbellville.
As Tim Foran of the Milton Canadian Champion outines in his article, there are a few more changes coming to the quiet area of Campbellville.
Changes could be coming to Campbellville
The quiet hamlet of Campbellville could become a little noisier in future due to some changes made by Milton’s town council last week.
An existing no heavy truck prohibition along Campbellville Road, between Milburough and Guelph lines, will be removed, council decided without discussion.
The change is part of the Town’s handover of responsibility for maintaining the roadway to Halton Region, an uploading that will save Milton taxpayers some money.
The Region has indicated it plans to invest millions of dollars to improve the roadway to major arterial conditions in future years.
Council also decided that, subject to necessary studies, it will try to expand Campbellville’s urban boundaries westward.
If the expansion receives approval from Halton Region and the Province, which Town staff indicated is actually unlikely, it would allow for new development in some of the area bounded by Campbellville Road to the south, Twiss Road to the west, Hwy. 401 to the north and the hamlet’s existing boundary to the east.
The last major addition to the hamlet was Bridlewood Estates, a subdivision of million-dollar homes currently under construction.
The motion made by Nassagaweya Councillor Cindy Lunau to expand the hamlet came on the day council was approving its updated official plan following four years of planning for future growth by Halton Region and the Town. The motion passed 5-4. Lunau’s ward colleague, Jan Mowbray, supported the motion while the regional councillor for the area, Barry Lee, didn’t.
“I’m of the opinion there’s a certain critical mass (of people needed) to make a hamlet sustainable,” Lunau explained for her motion.
Mississauga-based investment company TSI International, which uses land banking as part of its real estate investment strategy, owns most of the property included in Lunau’s motion and has been the only developer that has asked for the hamlet to be expanded, Town staff confirmed.
Supporters of the expansion, including Lunau, Regional Councillor Colin Best and Mowbray, expressed concern the motion’s wording was obviously in support of TSI’s request as they didn’t want to be seen to be favouring one developer’s land over another.
Lunau had originally put forth a motion suggesting the Town support minor expansions to hamlets, in general. However, the Town’s lawyer advised council a motion indicating the Town has some idea where it wants to grow would have a greater chance of getting approval from the Region and Province.
TSI’s request was shot down by Halton Regional staff in December, when it completed an update to its own official plan. In a response document released at that time, Halton staff said they didn’t believe including TSI’s 100-acre property in the urban area was a “minor rounding out of the hamlet,” something allowable under Provincial legislation during the official plan update process.
Last week, the Town of Milton’s lawyer told council it was still unclear how many acres would actually constitute “minor” to the Province.
Town planning staff had also recommended against expanding the hamlet. In a June 10 document, staff explained the Province’s Greenbelt Plan only allows rounding out of hamlets if the proposal has been supported by appropriate studies assessing the need for the expansion as well as the availability of water to service the development. Those studies haven’t been done, according to staff.
Prior to council’s vote, Town Senior Manager of Planning Policy Barb Koopmans told council that Halton Region has “clearly advised” it won’t approve the expansion to the hamlet in the absence of such evidence.
That news upset Colin Chung, the planning consultant for TSI. He said after the council session the company has offered for years to do whatever studies are necessary, but never got confirmation from municipal planners.
TSI’s property is approximately 100 acres. The majority are forested and designated natural heritage system, but about 15 acres are rural, including some along the Twiss Road frontage.
Lunau suggested much of the land could be donated to the town for use as trails by local residents.
Has anyone checked to see if Lunau (or any of the other supporters) have received donations from TSI International in the past?,
“Changes in traffic NOT happening in Campbellville” Tim Forun is completely wrong in this article regarding truck traffic.
The Town of Milton did indeed delete the prohibition against truck traffic. However, since this road has been transferred over to the Region, their by-law picks up control of the road and they have continued the prohibition against trucks on Campbellville area roads.
The existing road pavement is not designed to carry heavy truck traffic and accordingly it is proposed that heavy trucks continue to be prohibited on this section of road. Currently, there are no planned works for this road. This road
will be reviewed as part of the Region’s Transportation Master Plan
which is anticipated to be completed in spring 2011.
The Region’s Traffic Control BY-law 1984-01 was amended to include By-law 77-10 which includes all new roads assumed by the Region and any roads being deleted as part of the road transfers to the local municipalities. As part of this amendment under Schedule 26 Section 15 (1) (2) *Campbellville Road is Heavy Truck Prohibited all year. *The residents of Campbellville have to put up with enough traffic woes without hearing something like this.
Tim Forun says it went through without discussion. Believe me, had it not been as I have described above, you would have heard me yelling still.
In fact, the Champion will be providing an article about this situation in Tuesday’s paper.
Secondly, to the rather scurrilous comment about TSI having made any contributions, my best bet would be NO, never, but I would also challenge the person who made the comment to drop in to Campbellville. It’s sad, sad, sad. 20 businesses have dropped out of sight, more store fronts will be vacant, north/south truck traffic is horrendous – noisy, smelly, and an ugly sight, racing through the village. No cohesive urban design to reflect its heritage.
Mike, if you’d like a tour, let me know. I will take you around.
Jan Mowbray
Thanks for the info Jan. I was at the meeting and read through the reports and I didn’t see anything about the increased truck traffic. I’m sure there wouldve been a lot of discussion on this.
I think the posters tounge was firmly in cheek.
I’m sure I will take you up on that offer. There have been a lot of changes to Campbellvile and they all haven’t been good.
As a follow up to Jan’s comment about the truck traffic on Campbellville Road, there is an article in the Champion today stating that the truck ban will be continued under the Region of Halton.
http://www.insidehalton.com/community/milton/article/840540
“A ban on heavy truck traffic on Campbellville Road between Milburough and Guelph lines will be maintained despite the protest of St. Marys Cement.
Halton Region, which has assumed responsibility for that stretch of road from the Town of Milton and reclassified its status to a major rather than minor arterial, will put in the same heavy traffic prohibition as existed at the Town level, regional council decided Wednesday.
Council’s vote came despite a written objection by St. Marys, which is in the midst of seeking permission for a limestone quarry operation in Flamborough at the northwest corner of the 11th Concession and Milburough Line, adjacent to the border with Milton. In the letter, the company’s planning consultant states a heavy truck ban would be inconsistent with the Town and Region’s endorsement that Campbellville Road meets the criteria of a major arterial road, including the fact it carries a high volume of traffic and connects to other major arterials.”