The province has approved a minister's zoning order (MZO) request that gives the developer the go-ahead for a mega warehouse in Cambridge.
The move puts Blair-area residents on the path to a steep uphill battle, said Alan Van Norman, who lives on Old Mill Road, near where the project will be built.
"The MZO process is specifically set up to be bulletproof for the province," said the member of the resident group Blair Engaged - Save Blair. "My read is those protections extend to the city. The chances of being able to initiate any action against the province are small. This is going to be a tough nut to crack; it was always an uphill battle and now that hill is made much steeper."
An MZO allows the minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to approve development applications while controlling the use of specific land and set special requirements for new development, such as minimum lot sizes, frontage, access, and servicing requirements. The request for a million-square-foot warehouse was forwarded to the ministry after it received support at Cambridge council earlier this year.
It is believed it will be a warehouse for Amazon.
Van Norman's initial reacted to the news was anger, which slowly transitioned into a sense of lingering disappointment, he said.
"The MZO is quite artful," said Van Norman. "From their perspective, it's a master piece, from our perspective, it's just one more anti-democratic tactic used by the City of Cambridge and the Province of Ontario."
Van Norman, who lives within the 200-metres impact zone as outlined by the applicant, Broccolini.
"Everybody is going to be affected by the traffic and noise, which is already an issue here," he said. "They're adding anywhere between 200 and 300 transport trucks per day. When you look at the infrastructure they're building: 110 loading docks, 350 transport parking spots ... they have the ability to handle more than a thousand trucks a day and they intend to run 24/7. That is a significant increase over what is already an undesirable situation."
Van Norman said existing noise issues come from gravel and concrete trucks in the area.
"At least (they stop) work at six o'clock in the evening," he said, "with these guys going 24/7 and with backup beepers going all night, that might become intolerable."
Van Norman said the group will convene a meeting Monday night to decided on next steps.
Meanwhile, an emailed statement from the office of the mayor points out that there are still some remaining pieces of the puzzle left to be put in place.
"On Friday I learned Minister Clark exercised his authority to grant a Minister’s Zoning Order, allowing for an expedited and accelerated process outside of the regular planning process under section 47 of the Planning Act," wrote in Mayor Kathryn McGarry. "The City of Cambridge will now work through the remaining pieces with the developer and the community."
The email indicates that there is still work to be done around the site plan, a traffic impact study, and a heritage impact assessment.
"Members of the community will be able to speak to the Traffic Impact Study and the Heritage Impact Assessment when they are presented to Council," McGarry's email says, adding, "As always, we look forward to working with all partners and our community on meaningful developments that will add to the economic viability, environmental prosperity and continued growth of our City."
Van Norman said they will take any opportunity to express their opinion at upcoming public sessions.
"They hold that up as being meaningful public discussion," he said. "In fact, you get five minutes to talk to a bunch of people who've already made up their mind. That's not meaningful public participation.
"It is very frustrating and it's anti-democratic and it's certainly not what I expected from what I assumed was a democratic process in Ontario," said Van Norman.
