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Wednesday, April 4, 2012 1937 - 2012 · Celebrating 75 Years Orono Weekly Times - 7 New fill policy riles operator Not everyone is pleased with the changes to Clarington's Site Alteration By-law approved by council last week. In his address to council, lawyer Ronald Kanter claimed that the arbitrary prohibition of fill from other jurisdictions to be placed in Clarington is "pretty draconian." Kanter described his client Richard Rondeau, in his presentation to Clarington council at the March 26 meeting, as a builder of high-end homes in a number of GTA municipalities. According to Kanter, the amendment to Clarington's Site Alteration By-law means that if his client has some excess fill in King City he can't bring that fill and place it on one of his developments in Clarington. "I think that is going too far in response to a totally legal activity," Kanter stated. In an attempt to deal with the increase of commercial fill activity in the municipality, Clarington's Operations Department recently recommended changes to the Site Lyndsay Moxon (R) Outdoor Education Instructor with the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority, demonstrates early sugaring off techniques at their Maple Syrup Day held at the Ganaraska Forest Centre on Saturday. Alteration By-law. The most significant change was in the area of large operations, consisting of more than 500 cubic metres of fill. Staff recommended the current permit cost for a large fill permit remain at $500 and that the cost per cubic metre of fill placed be increased from $25 per 1,000 cubic metres to 60 cents per cubic metre. Council opted to increase the fees higher than was recommended by staff and at last Monday's council meeting approved a fee of $1,000 for a large fill permit plus $1 for every cubic metre of fill placed. Other changes to the by-law included reducing the length of the permit from one year to 90 days, and the prohibition of bringing fill in from outside of Clarington's boundaries. "I understand the commit- tee doubled the fees recommended by staff," Kanter told councillors at Monday's council meeting. "My client would like to have the opportunity to examine the reasonableness of these fees, whether the municipality needs them in terms of the service they are providing," he stated. Rondeau is the owner of the Morgans Road fill site, which is the first such site the municipality and the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority (GRCA) have had to deal with. He began placing fill on the 95 acre Morgans Road site, which contains an abandoned gravel pit and provincially significant wetland, in March 2010. The operation was halted by the GRCA as Rondeau did not have a fill permit. In June 2010 the GRCA issued a one year permit for "Temporary stockpiling of fill material for future use on-site." The operation ceased at the end of June 2011 until a new permit was issued in August for the placement of 40,000 cubic metres of fill to be placed on the site. According to information received by the Clarington Citizens for Clean Soil and Water (CCCSW) a local advocacy group protesting large fill operations, as of the beginning of October 39,000 cubic metres of that fill had been deposited at the site and fill activity ceased. FILL see page 8