Public hearing on Port Williams growth centre expansion draws huge crowd

By Kirk Starratt

kstarratt@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

Despite concerns that holding the public hearing the evening before Canada Day would discourage people from attending, Kings County council chambers were packed to capacity with some spill over into the hallway.

People were on hand to have their say in the matter of the proposed rezoning of farmland by Dykeview and Riverbrook Farms located generally between Collins Road and Highway 358 in Port Williams from Agricultural (A1) to Residential Comprehensive Development District (RCDD). Earl Kidston and Greg Coldwell represent the applicant farms.

They’re proposing to use 97 acres for potential residential development and 29 acres for a retirement, assisted living and long-term care community for seniors.

Kings County Warden Fred Whalen drew the hearing to a close after four hours on Monday evening, June 30. He said that all 29 people who had called in beforehand got to speak but that was as far as things got. He said the hearing would reconvene on Thursday evening, July 10 at 6 p.m. They will try to limit presentations to those individuals who wanted to speak the first evening before they ran out of time and the letters already sent. There were about 200 letters sent to the municipality on the matter.

The hearing began with Kings County planning manager Chrystal Fuller giving an overview of the rezoning proposal. The majority of speakers went on to speak against it.

Scott Burbidge of Lower Canard said we import more than 90 per cent of the food we eat and we could support 20 to 30 per cent of our population with our agricultural land base, so we should preserve or expand the agricultural district. He said council should declare a moratorium on farmland rezoning applications and ask the province to support it.

Pauline Raven of Greenwich said the issue of farmland rezoning keeps reoccurring in spite of the fact that the public keeps bringing a clear message that they want agricultural land protected. She said the ad hoc committee that established a vision document for Port Williams in 2005 demonstrated little diversity, which undermines its findings. She said people’s input should count as much regardless of where they live, or the municipality could be sending the wrong message.

Ken Bezanson of Port Williams said water quality is not the issue here and the subject land features some of the best quality soil in the county. He said there are all sorts of building lots available and pointed out that residential development doesn’t support the tax base in the long run. He said the rezoning could lead to urban sprawl and if the county rezones the land, it could lose control.

Pierre Cloutier of New Minas said much has been made about the rezoning application supporting the future wellbeing of the community’s children. However, he said part of raising children is feeding them and he wonders how we’ll feed them without our agricultural land resources. He asked for council’s decision to be put off until after the election this fall.

Reading a letter on behalf of a Port Williams resident, Linda O’Neill said the rezoning application would lead to a major change in land use with long ranging effects. She said the matter of future development should be sent to the community’s secondary planning strategy process.

Reading a letter on behalf of Marilyn Cameron, Cherie Zinck of Port Williams said the proposed development would mean short-term benefits at high infrastructure costs but farmland pays for itself over and over again. The proposal represents a permanent loss of capability, it would be precedent setting and it’s incomprehensible.

Audrey Haig-Stewart of Greenwich said immigration could be a solution in the farming community in terms of having skilled people utilize the high capability land others no longer want to farm. She used the example of the influx of Dutch farmers into our communities in the 1950’s.

Rezoning applicant Greg Coldwell of Port Williams, who introduced himself as the man painted by others as the “money grubbing land baron”, said village commission chairman Lewis Benedict has indicated that he doesn’t want the subject land, which surrounds the village’s well field, to be used for agriculture because of high nitrate levels. The village water utility is blending water with high nitrate levels with clean water to make it acceptable. He said the water wouldn’t be fit for human consumption if farming practices in the vicinity continue. Coldwell pointed out that no agriculture is permitted in well field zones A and B in New Minas or Digby.

Darrell Dixon of Shannex said when he saw Coldwell’s land he thought it would make a great regional location for an assisted living community in the Valley. He said they’re looking for land for more construction in 2010 and it’s about whether or not we want our seniors to stay in the Valley. He said this is not an empty promise and there is a vision.

James Ludwig of Lower Canard said perhaps it’s not the case that the county knows better than the village when it comes to the secondary planning process. To deny the rezoning proposal, development will be pushed out onto more farmland, fragmenting productive land and increasing the requirement for travel.

Planner Nick Price, who works for the applicants, said the rezoning would enable another public process for a development agreement before any construction would take place. The agreement would enable the development to unfold over a 20-year period and it could be 2013 before the first dwelling is constructed.

Rose Grieder of Port Williams said sustainable development is an oxymoron, continuing to change without changing. If the expansion of development continues, she said Port Williams would no longer be “The Biggest Little Port in the World”; it would simply become another suburbia. She said some people see development on farmland as ideal because the land is cleared, level, has good drainage and is an inexpensive way to turn a profit.

Beverly McDow MacGilvary of Cape Breton, originally from Port Williams, said that once these fields are paved, you could never go back. She urged councillors that, if they couldn’t reject the proposal, to at least send it to the secondary planning process. Drawing attention to a prior development on agricultural land, she referred to one of the applicants as a “serial developer”.

Port Williams farmer Brian Newcombe spoke about the application of fertilizer, drawing attention to the fact that lawns can require more fertilizer in a concentrated area than some agricultural practices.

Port Williams resident David Hovell, who lives within 500 feet of the subject land, said the application represents an opportunity for the community to grow and it’s about the future sustainability of the community.

Kings County council is expected to consider second and final reading on the proposed rezoning at the August 5 session.