A western section of Safari Road, south of Cambridge, has been closed for almost five years, and neighbours say it's because of one man and his dirt pile.
The approximately one-kilometre stretch of road is only open to local traffic between Valens Road and Kirkwall Road. John Fitzgerald says he has never experienced prolonged flooding like this in the 20 years he's lived on the road.
Fitzgerald told councillors during a delegation at city hall on Nov. 13, 2023 that he hasn't been able to receive mail or send his granddaughter to school on the bus in years, and the repeated flooding has damaged his vehicles.
The Sheffield-Rockton Provincially Significant Wetland (PSW) complex sits on either side of Safari Road. Fitzgerald said flooding used to happen from time to time, and he thought it might be a result of climate change.
That was until he saw drone footage from the city, showing the massive pile of fill on his neighbour’s property, he said.
“We have issues with, and I’m not here to point fingers but I have to say this, with one person filling in some area that restricts the water from flowing its natural course.”
The neighbour lives at 1759 Safari Road and the fill neighbours claim is causing the flooding is visible on images on Google Maps.
"While private property status does impact certain aspects, the ministry is actively engaged in addressing the concerns raised about 1759 Safari Road," Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) spokesperson Gary Wheeler said in an email.
Ward 13 Coun. Alex Wilson said they are aware the fill is possibly contributing to the flooding, but with limited enforcement options, there isn't much the city alone can do about it.
"If it's still more profitable for someone getting fill dumped on their property to get paid to dump the fill, while those bylaw fines rack up and rack up, they're going to keep doing it," Wilson said.
City, environmental agencies have limited options
The City of Hamilton previously approved a full engineer report to study the road. The report was completed in June 2023 and directed staff to investigate the “alleged illegal dumping and any blocked culverts on private property.”
The city said the reports on the impact would guide the city on how to enforce against dumping and if the province would need to get involved.
Wilson said the city doesn’t have many options when it comes to stopping private owners from dumping fill on their property.
“As we have had soil bill regulations come into place with the province, there hasn’t been any enforcement tools that have come with them,” Wilson said.
Wheeler said in an email, “The City of Hamilton has jurisdiction over the drainage issues and we are coordinating with them to explore solutions.”
Wheeler said MECP is aware of the fill at 1759 Safari Road and is monitoring the situation.
“People are frustrated that it can take so long to resolve some of these concerns,” Wilson said, adding that it may take years to come up with a solution.
Wilson said the city is moving forward with an environmental assessment and looking at different options, like raising the road to a higher elevation.
But draining the marsh itself is a complicated task.
Building a ditch system to drain the land out completely wouldn’t meet requirements from environmental agencies like the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) and MECP.
The report the city received suggested removing natural blockages, like beaver dams and vegetation build up. This solution would cost approximately $197,250 and Robinson Consultants, the group that did the study, wrote that this option “ultimately may not provide full relief from flooding concerns.”
