Guelph-Eramosa Township has given $70,000 to a local citizens group to help in its fight at the Ontario Municipal Board against a proposed gravel pit for just outside Rockwood.
While residents groups opposing planning matters at the OMB is certainly nothing new, it is very rare for a municipality to help fund that opposition.
Council voted unanimously at a special meeting on June 26 to approve the funding, which will come out of the municipalities hydro revenues.
"I don't know if it's unprecedented, but it's certainly different," said Doug Tripp, president of the Concerned Residents Coalition which is spearheading the fight against the proposed gravel.
For over three years the CCRC has been organizing and opposing an application by James Dick Construction for a 100-acre parcel of land just north of Highway 7 just east of Rockwood.
The construction company is appealing after its rezoning application was not ruled on by the township in the allotted time limit.
The money will used to pay for lawyers and five expert witnesses, said Tripp. The CRC is expecting its OMB fight to cost $280,000.
An OMB hearing expected to last several weeks is due to start Sept. 27.
"I don't know if it's been done before, I'm not versed in all the OMB battles that have gone on in history. But just because something hasn't been done before doesn't mean you shouldn't do it," said Guelph-Eramosa Township Mayor Chris White said of the townships financial contribution to the CRC.
" We just don't have the money or the resources to take this kind of situation on. It could have cost us $800,000 fighting this thing," White said. "I think that what we've done here is reasonable ... if it gives these folks a chance, then that's great."
The township did hire its own consultants to look into the quarry application and while they still feel there is potential risk, they found nothing on a planning level to lead them to believe they could win at the OMB.
"We're still opposed when it comes to community benefit," White said. "There is no demonstrated overall benefit to our township. We're just saying it's not in the right place."
The CRC disagrees that the fight can't be won on a planning level.
"Our reports and our evidence takes issues with the findings of the township's research," Tripp said.
"We've had generous support from the community. It's a generous community but a small community," said Tripp in discussing the expense incurred to fight at the OMB.
The township will not be a formal party at the hearing, having downgraded to participant status.
The Town of Halton Hills and Halton Region are opposing the pit based on trucking routes.
