The Rural Voice, 1988-04, Page 19"If this proposal were accepted,"
he says, "it would constitute a prece-
dent for the conversion of basically
unserviced land to other uses, contrary
to the official plan, and that leaves us
wide open for exploitation." Farquhar
describes the proposal as inviting
"short-term gain for long-term pain."
"The fact that the proponent built
Peel Village is no reason to ignore
sound planning and environmental
rules in Grey County," says one of the
CPEF's directors, Karl Braeker.
While CPEF members say that
Watson can offer his unserviced land
for far less than municipalities with
serviced industrial parks can, they
question why Foodland Guidelines
would be put aside in this case when
more than 1,000 acres of industrial
land are available in Grey County.
They count about 70 acres in Normanby
Township on the edge of Mount Forest,
and a further 40 acres in the town.
Recognizing that municipalities are
having difficulty attracting industry, Grey
County recently hired an economic devel-
opment officer. The Saugeen Economic
Development Corporation (SEDC) is
suggesting that the 10 municipalities and
townships within their south Grey juris-
diction plan a similar move. Bill Lang,
chairman of the SEDC, says that small
industries with a maximum of 50 employ-
ees would provide the slow, steady growth
that is compatible with the predominantly
rural area. A number of industries in the
Golden Horseshoe, he adds, might
favour the lower wages and quality of
life offered by the south Grey area.
But to date, according to some
officials at the Ministry of Municipal
Affairs, Grey County has not been
noted for adopting sound planning
policies. In a discussion between Bill
Murdoch, previous warden of Grey
County, and Deputy Minister of Muni-
cipal Affairs Eric Fleming, Assistant
Deputy Minister Milt Farrow, and
Gary McAlister, the province's Chief
of Community Planning for the region
that includes the Wat-Cha land, offi-
cials described the planning attitude in
Grey as "very much laissez-faire" with
"no long-term idea of what they are
doing" (said McAlister). Ministry
officials are concerned by the tenden-
cy in Grey County to approve more
severances on agricultural land than
the officials would like (said Fleming
and Farrow).
Asked about the argument that
other sites would be more appropriate,
Watson, Jr. says that there's no better
place for the proposed industry.
"Quite simply, there are small tracts of
land in all the communities of Ontario,
but there is no large site that can sup-
port the industry that we've lined up to
come in." The Wat-Cha site, he says,
can also take advantage of a natural
gas main trunk line and offers "a
communication service unequalled
anywhere in the world" (Tel -Sat fibre
optics). The proposal, he adds, offers
a unique opportunity — Grey
County's own budget for economic
development ($20,000, he says) won't
go very far.
In addition, Watson points out that
within a 15 -mile radius of the site are
at least three other industries which
function well and haven't provoked
any complaints. "The only thing
that's the matter with this in a few
people's eyes is that it's big." Other
projects, he says, haven't made "one
big splash," but have expanded
gradually.
But CPEF members say that the
site's advantages don't change the fact
that many concerns have been left
unanswered. They say that it was
County Council's reluctance to ad-
dress these concerns (including those
of OMAF, the Ministry of the Envir-
onment, some arca residents, and
county planners) and the council's
dismissal of one county planner that
prompted the formation of the CPEF
in May of 1987.
The county planners who submit-
ted the report on the rezoning proposal
expressed serious reservations about
the proposal. Both have since left the
department. These reservations,
which make interesting reading, were:
• "The proposed amendment
would not conform with accepted
and wise Rural land use planning
principles."
• "The scale of development pro-
posed by the amendment ... could re-
sult in a highly negative impact on the
social, economic, administrative and
environmental elements of the Town-
ships of Normanby and Egremont."
• "The potential for negative im-
pacts on surrounding urban munici-
palities in terms of the provisions of
hard and soft services (i.e. sewer,
water, policing and recreation) and
therefore the potential adverse effect
of imbalanced assessment ratio is also
quite high."
• "The proposed amendment could
set a serious precedent for other sim-
ilar amendments which could then
result in unco-ordinated, poorly
planned development throughout the
County of Grey. In this regard, the
amendment would represent a major de-
viation from the philosophy of the Grey/
"The only thing that's the matter
with this in a few people's eyes
is that it's big."
— Charles Watson, Jr.
Owen Sound Official Plan which directs
major industrial and commerical devel-
opment toward existing urban communi-
ties ..."
• "There does not appear to be any
specific evidence that on a larger
economic scale, the site location and
the scale of the designation is reason-
able and rational."
• "The proposed amendment
would be inconsistent with the his-
torical development patterns in Grey
County ..."
The report also noted that "it is
apparent from the oral and written
submissions addressed to the Planning
Advisory Committee at the Public
Meeting held on April 8, 1987, that
the vast majority of the public and
their political representatives in the
area affected by the proposed amend-
ment support the proposed and are of
the opinion that the potential econom-
ic benefits resulting from the proposed
development ... will far outweigh the
potential impacts."
If the Wat-Cha proposal were
"viewed as an exemption or exception
to the rural land use principle and
policy regarding the location of major
APRIL 1988 17