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The Oakville Beaver, Friday August 8, 2003 - 3 Long and expensive OMB hearing avoided (Continued from page 1) Municipal Board (OMB) hearing regarding the Town's plans for urban expansion north of Dundas Street. And so far, everyone remains on the same page, agreeing that the deal is a good one. "The settlement was negotiated, first o f all, with the Town's own res idents," Town of Oakville solicitor Julia Ryan told the OMB hearing Wednesday morning. "The settle ment is intended to be a win for Oakville residents. It is not a win for one party or another party." In a joint press release issued Tuesday night, Oakvillegreen vicepresident Mike Lansdown said, "This settlement allows OPA 198 to proceed, allowing the growth to be planned and the environment to be protected. "As an active participant in these discussions. Oakvillegreen sought environmental outcomes which would benefit town residents. These initiatives will help keep environ mental considerations at the fore front of our community." Rob Burton, executive director of CTAC, declined to comment on the agreement until the OMB process is fully completed, noting, "I really do believe this is a great settlement and good for everyone and I don't want to do anything to jinx i t " In the joint press release, he is quoted as saying, "CTAC prefers to invest in the environmental health of our community rather than in legal and hearing costs." Lyn Townsend Renaud, spokesperson for North Oakville Management Inc., which represents a number of the developers in the area north of Dundas Street added that the agreement was "a very posi tive development for everyone." "For the most part this hearing wasn't really about (the developers) issues in any event, so we didn't want to stand in the way of all the work that had been done between the Town, Oakvillegreen and Clear the Air Coalition to try and resolve their differences," she said. While the developers had to abandon some of their unresolved concerns with OPA 198, Townsend Renaud noted that all the parties had to make some compromises to make the deal happen. "It was a very difficult negotia tion process," she said. "Just the number of people and issues that were on the table required a lot of skill to bring it together. "But I think everyone benefitted. First and foremost, the citizens of Oakville, because of the cost of a hearing like that but no question, every one of the parties benefitted from not having to spend that kind of money on a hearing." Ward 5 councillor Jeff Knoll, who attended a portion of Wednesday morning's hearing when the agreement was announced to the board, said he believes the deal shows that the process can work when people cooperate. "I think it's a good way to end a difficult chapter in Oakville's growth," he said. "This is an agree ment that is ultimately being made by local folks, in the best interest of the community, rather than being left in the hands of the OMB." David Cash, Oakville's commis sioner of planning and development also voiced his satisfaction at having been able to reach the deal. `I t 's beneficial because it brings all the parties together so we can move forward," he said. "It puts this chapter to rest and allows everyone to move forward on the detail work." By detail work, he is referring to the secondary planning process for the 7,600 acres of land expected to (See `OPA' page 4) So, what is the big deal? In exchange for Oakvillegreen, Clear the Air Coalition and Residents, Association North of Dundas dropping their appeals of OPA 198, the Town has agreed to undertake a number of envi ronmental initiatives. Here are the Town's commitments, as outlined in the deal approved by Town Council on Tuesday night. · The Town will provide $150,000 to set up an Oakville Foundation for Environmental Initiatives. The foundation, which will be up and running by September 2004, will raise money to fund the acquisition of environmental lands and support environmental initiatives. The Town will establish the foundation in a way that will provide tax bene fits to donors. · The Town will establish a Healthy Green Space Strategy for Public Lands by the end of 2004. The strategy will outline the Town's objective for promoting, maintaining and enhancing the long term ecological health of its parks and open spaces. · The Town will become a participant in the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign, run by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Oakville, beginning in 2004, will join the current 29 Ontario participants in the climate protection program. · Also in 2004, the Town will establish an Urban Forestry Plan for the lands south of Dundas Street, to address urban forest practices, replacement of ageing trees and reforestration. · The Town will establish a task force to focus on urban redevelopment, intensification and revitaliza tion south of Dundas Street, to be in operation by April 2004. The task force, to be made up of a cross-section of citizens and stakeholders, as well as one representative from both Oakvillegreen and CTAC, will have a budget of $25,000. It will present any consensus recommendations it develops to Town Council by December 2004. · The Town will initiate a monitoring program for phosphorus along the Oakville shoreline, provided no other agency has undertaken such a program by the beginning of January 2005. The monitoring program would last for three years, to a total max imum cost of $25,000. 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