Two of Huronia's major tourist attractions are escalating their campaign to stop construction of a recycling facility on their doorstep.
The Martyrs' Shrine and Sainte-Marie Among the Huron -with the backing of the Jesuits in English Canada -have turned to social media to mobilize public opposition to the facility.
They have created a Facebook page containing a form letter people can sign. The page urges people to join a protest march from the Shrine to Midland town hall on Nov. 30 to deliver the letters.
"Don't spoil the tranquillity and peaceful surroundings of these sites with a noisy and ugly plant -relocate it to a more suitable place in Midland," the form letter urges.
The Shrine and Saint Marie are the largest tourist attractions in the region with more than 180,000 visitors annually, generating an economic impact for the region of $43.8 million and employing more than 127 people throughout the year.
Support for their cause appears to be growing. A public information meeting last week at Sainte-Marie attracted about 50 people, some of them veterans of the battle to stop landfill Site 41.
John Raynor, an avocational archaeologist and local historian, told the meeting that it was a careless move on the town's part not to request an archaeological assessment of the property where the recycling facility will be built.
In an interview afterward, he said there is documented evidence of a half dozen archaeological sites within the area, including a Metis settlement. In the 1800s, there was a plan of subvision registered by a Metis in Tay Township for property in the west half of Lot 16, Concession 3, which is adjacent to the recycling property. The Metis should be contacted., he added.
"To not do an archaeological assessment or request one isn't showing due diligence," he said.
Another person at the meeting suggested contacting the Aboriginal women that were involved in the blockade of Site 41.
An application by Recycling Specialties Inc. to re-zone the property at 1001 Franke Kindred Rd. to industrial zone M2 from highway commercial zone HC so it could build the recycling facility went through without a hitch earlier this year.
At the time, a company a spokesperson said the facility would handle materials from demolition projects.
When there were no objections at the public meeting and no requests for an Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing, council waited until after the 30 day period had passed and in April passed a bylaw approving the re-zoning.
The Shrine and Sainte-Marie say by the time they learned about their new neighbour in mid-July, the 30-day period in which appeals to the OMB are allowed had long since lapsed. Besides, they point out, to seek an OMB hearing an applicant must make their objection known, orally or in writing, at the public meeting.
They say they were not notified about the public meeting because the Planning Act only requires a municipality to notify property owners within 120-meter radius of the property for which a land use variance is sought. The Shrine and Sainte-Marie are outside the 120-meter radius.
Town officials say that Ontario Realty Corp. -Sainte-Marie's landlord -was notified of the re-z oning application and did respond in writing.
A copy of the ORC letter obtained by The Free Press said the ORC had no specific concerns with the proposed use, but it recommended the town request that "appropriate operational controls are put in place through the Ministry of the Environment's certificate of approval © of A) process.
"Specifically," the letter said, "impacts on the adjacent provincially-owned lands related to dust, odour, and/or noise should be avoided."
The ORC suggested imposing conditions on the C of A that limit the hours of operation and the type and amount of materials received and processed on site.
The letter went on to recommend that "the appropriate personnel at the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Friends of Wye Marsh be consulted to identify and mitigate any negative impacts on the natural heritage feature and functions of the provincially-owned lands."
Town staff have met with the Shrine, Sainte-Marie, the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre and Infras t r u c t u re Ontario (formerly Ontario Realty Corporation) to discuss their concerns.
According to an October technical review committee report the developer has made significant changes to the site plan in order to address the concerns raise by the Shrine and Sainte-Marie.
The report said the site plan will be revised showing the location and separation distances of the storage containers and outdoor storage piles. In addition, it said, the landscape plan will illustrate the location and details of a noise attenuation fence.
Recycling Specialties Inc. is awaiting approval of the site plan agreement and a Ministry of the Environment certificate of approval before it can begin construction. Efforts were made earlier this week to reach a company spokesman for comment on the latest development, but the call was not returned.
The site plan agreement is scheduled to come before the planning and development committee on Dec. 7. Representatives of the Shrine and Sainte-Marie say they will attend. the meeting.
"This is the wrong location for this type of facility, a very noisy, outdoor and potentially hazardous industrial plant," says Father Bernard Carroll, director of the Martyrs' Shrine.
"The Church of St. Joseph located adjacent to the Wye River contains the original graves of 2 martyred saints and features an open door at the back of the church facing the Wye River and this proposed facility.
"Can you imagine," he asks, "praying at the graves of the martyred Saints with the background noise of truck beepers, air brakes, etc.?"
"People come from all around the world and people come here with an expectation that these sites are somehow respected in terms of what is around them.
"It's just going to be very offensive. It's shame it wasn't thought through beforehand."
Father J. Peter Bisson of Jesuits in English Canada, said people come to Sainte-Marie and go to the graves to pray. "Can you image what it will be like for them to hear a truck going beep, beep, beep, and the other noises emanating from this kind of facility."
Jan Gray, general manager of Huronia Historical Parks, said when the re-zoning was being considered in the spring a Midland staff report identified Sainte Marie as a neighbour, but we were never notified of the public meeting.
She said the noise will have a big impact in terms of the peaceful discussions that take place throughout the whole historic site. Not just for the school children, but for all our visitors who come here from all over the world.
Lawyer Dianne Saxe, who represents the Jesuits in English Canada who own both sites, was asked what options the town has, given that the re-zoning bylaw has been passed?
"First they have the site plan process, which they are dealing with Dec. 7," she said,
"The site plan doesn't determine what can be done on the site, but it does determine how. So they have the right to put in conditions that would, for exam-p le, require all storage to be done indoors; that the doors face away from the two sites and control the direction of traffic.
"They have absolutely the right to change their zoning to something else; to anything else. Council has the right to change the zoning. They can take away the industrial zoning.
"What happens then is the current owner has the right to still apply for a building permit before the zoning changes. The OMB could consider his application."
She was critical of the town for not informing the Shrine or Sainte-Marie about the public meeting.
"They (the town) should have known they needed to give notice to Saint Marie and the Shrine because they are so important.
The criteria of the (Planning) Act is that they should give notice to those likely to be affected. The Legislation gives a minimum notice requirement of 120 meter radius, but you would expect staff to use good judgment and decide if any further notice was necessary."
Gray said that people attending First Light at Sainte-Marie next week will be asked to sign the letter posted on the Facebook page wall. The Facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Protect-th e-MartyrsShrineSaint-Marie-Among-the-Hurons/145117268923656? sk=w all
Copies of the letter are also available at the Shrine, St. Margaret's Church, Midland; St. Ann's in Penetanguishene and St. John the Evangelist Parish, Waubaushene.
© of A) process.
"Specifically," the letter said, "impacts on the adjacent provincially-owned lands related to dust, odour, and/or noise should be avoided."
The ORC suggested imposing conditions on the C of A that limit the hours of operation and the type and amount of materials received and processed on site.
The letter went on to recommend that "the appropriate personnel at the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Friends of Wye Marsh be consulted to identify and mitigate any negative impacts on the natural heritage feature and functions of the provincially-owned lands."
Town staff have met with the Shrine, Sainte-Marie, the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre and Infras t r u c t u re Ontario (formerly Ontario Realty Corporation) to discuss their concerns.
According to an October technical review committee report the developer has made significant changes to the site plan in order to address the concerns raise by the Shrine and Sainte-Marie.
The report said the site plan will be revised showing the location and separation distances of the storage containers and outdoor storage piles. In addition, it said, the landscape plan will illustrate the location and details of a noise attenuation fence.
Recycling Specialties Inc. is awaiting approval of the site
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