The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing into the James Dick Construction appeal of a rezoning application for a stone quarry near Rockwood has been adjourned.
The actual hearing, which began on Sept. 27, scheduled to last five to seven weeks, lasted for less than two days before a crucial legal issue arose that threatened to sink the entire process. That has now happened.
At issue was the actually zoning bylaw under which James Dick Construction Ltd. filed its appeal to the OMB.
All legal ducks appeared to be in a row until it was pointed out on day one of the hearing that the relevant Guelph-Eramosa Township bylaw had been repealed in August of this year.
According to OMB documentation released on Thursday, the township approved a new, comprehensive zoning bylaw that repealed the old one under which the James Dick Construction appeal was filed.
In his ruling, OMB vice-chair Steven Stefanko determined that appeal was essentially invalidated by the township’s repeal of the former bylaw. Since that bylaw no longer exists, the appeal related to that bylaw can not go ahead.
Stefanko stated that the hearing can only recommence once the OMB receives the requisite appeals to the new bylaw.
The Concerned Residents Coalition has been fighting the Hidden Quarry proposal for about three years.
In a press release issued Thursday, the group said its lawyer argued on the first day of the hearing that since James Dick Construction “had not appealed the new bylaw by the Sept. 1, 2016 deadline, the company’s rezoning application and subsequent appeal to the OMB had no current legal context.”
According to the coalition release, James Dick will now be required to re-apply to Guelph-Eramosa Township council for re-zoning under the new bylaw if it intends to pursue its plans for the quarry.
One likely consequence of the decision may be that all parties will face a longer, more costly process, Concerned Residents Coalition stated.
“The CRC will await notice of any new application by James Dick Construction Ltd., and will continue to stand by its case objecting to the Hidden Quarry proposal,” the press release states.
