WELLINGTON NORTH – Council has committed to protecting farmland in its fight to counteract the impacts of ongoing fill operations trucking through the township.
Approving the new bylaw at a Wellington North council meeting Monday afternoon, staff have amended the township's new fill and site alteration bylaw to include exemptions for farm properties in response to some concerns shared by Mayor Andy Lennox and Coun. Lisa Hern at a council meeting in December.
Under the new bylaw, a medium site alteration and fill bylaw permit will be required if site alteration or cumulative fill volume exceeds 200 truckloads or changes the land grade from two metres less or above the existing grade. This permit will cost approximately $16,000.
A major site alteration permit would be required for projects with a cumulative fill volume exceeding 1,000 truckloads, with a grade change of three metres less or above the existing grade and/or the proposed site alteration area is greater than one hectare. This permit will cost approximately $45,000.
"I'm always concerned when we're entering a new area of regulating something we haven't done in the past that we try to avoid unintended consequences as much as we possibly can. So certainly I hope that we've done that," said Lennox at the meeting. "If we do find something in the future, we may have to go back and revisit this."
According to the updated bylaw, brownfields are still required to apply for a site alteration and fill permit under the new bylaw but fees will be waived to assist with reducing costs for site rehabilitation.
A brownfield is a vacant or underutilized property where past industrial or commercial activities may have left contamination behind like factories, gas stations and waterfront properties formerly used for industrial or commercial activities.
Another exemption permits the construction of laneways on farmlands to allow farmers to access fields at their farm's rear while normal agricultural practices like planting, harvesting and manure placement are automatically exempt under the bylaw.
Staff said township engineers will help with implementation and monitoring since the township does not have sufficient staff to fully implement the bylaw.
Fees collected through the bylaw will go into a Roads Reserve Account for infrastructure upgrades "to support and rectify the damage caused by excess heavy trucks associated with the site alteration and fill activities."
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
