Dec 18, 2008

Dear Mayor, Councilors and Staff

Re: Bell group development

I don't know where to begin listing my objections to this rezoning application and the timing of this public hearing. What is your rush?

I saw the public notice in the paper about this hearing but nowhere in the notice did it say that the Bell Group was the proponent, and that Cumberland Green, an aging-in-place senior's village of over 1600 units, was the development spurring on this rezoning. How are citizens supposed to come out and voice their opinion if notification is obscure?

As of today the legal opinion of the village lawyer regarding the Comprehensive Development Agreement for Cumberland Green has not been received. Are we going to have another public hearing if the village lawyer voices significant objections to the clauses in the CDA?

One clause of the schedule attached to the CDA states that the Village will not be responsible for providing water to the development, and another clause states that the water supply system installed by the developer will become the property of the Village of Cumberland. Won't the village then be responsible for the costs of running and maintaining the water supply system in perpetuity? What if the wells built by the Bell Group run dry?

The geotech study presented by the Bell Group dates from 2006 and it states that mining activities have left the whole site affected and that further study to determine whether the old shafts have collapsed is necessary. No further studies were in the Bell group binder when I viewed it today. The 2006 geotechnical report was commissioned by a developer who had planned to develop this property with residential units 1 or 2 stories high and light industrial buildings 2 or 4 stories high. Bell Group is planning 14 apartment blocks 6 or 7 stories high, a hotel, a professional building and 2 care facilities. How can the 2006 geotechnical report possibly be adequate given the scale of the buildings planned by Bell Group?

The village's municipal engineer Bob Hofstrom took five pages to list the reports missing or inadequate from the Bell Group's development proposal, and since his report was submitted to council in September only a few of the missing reports have been added to the Bell Group folder. Why won't you listen to your own consultant's advice and ensure that due diligence is observed WRT to this development? Why bring it to public hearing before the public has a chance to evaluate these reports?

In closing, I repeat, “What's the rush?”

We need to make responsible land use decisions. That requires adequate information about the suitability of the site for development, and the suitability of the development for the site. This property should not be rezoned until Village planning staff, fire department, engineer and lawyer are satisfied that due diligence has been carried out.

Dr Mary Lynn DesRoches