Rezoning Barrhaven gravel pit for homes 'possibly premature', says expert

City planning staff appear to have jumped the gun byrecommending a Barrhavengravel pitbe rezoned to make way for a housing subdivisionbefore the provincial excavation licence was relinquished, according to one lawyer who specializes in that industry.

Local developer Caivan'srequest to rezone the longtime Brazeau Pit on Borrisokane Road from a "mineral extraction" zone to a "residential" zone, in order tobuild500 homes, was originally set to go to planning committee for a decision next week.

It's now been postponed to Feb. 13 because Caivan asked to change details, staff say.

• Barrhaven development vote postponed amid questions about report

City of Ottawa staffhad recommended councillors approve the zoning, advising that the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) had deemed the site to be exhausted of its valuable resources. Provincial policies prohibit development on pits and quarriesthat still have useful materials in the ground that could be used in construction.

After the ministry told CBC Newsit hadn'tmade that pronouncement, staff sentcity council a memo confirmingBrazeau Pit wasindeed still a licensedgravel pit under Ontario laws.

The ministry is "fully aware" of the proposed subdivision, and had laid out steps for how the licence could be retired, wrote Lee Ann Snedden, the city's director of planning services.

Industry highly regulated

Caivan bought Brazeau Pit in late 2018 for $17 million from Marcel BrazeauLtd., whichstill holds the provincial licence for extracting sand and gravel.

The industry ishighly regulated, and according to the ministry, city staff had to show it had given draft approval for the subdivisionbefore Brazeau couldretire its licence something that happenedinOctober.

But another necessary step has not yet been taken: the changes to how the gravel pit will be rehabilitated must be posted on theMNR's environmentalregistry for a 30-day consultation.

David White, a Barrie-based lawyer who specializes in aggregates and permits, said typicallythe province'srole is entirely finished before a municipality takes over and changes land use.

"It would sound to me that the municipality is possibly premature in rezoning it for development use, for a residential use, while the licence is still in place," said White.

Were the city to approveresidential zoning while the licence is still valid, the zoningwould have no force, White explained, asOntario's Aggregates Resources Act overrides municipal bylaws.

'Anxious to move forward'

The Brazeau Pit property falls in Coun. Scott Moffatt's Rideau-Goulbourn ward, and he says even if zoning is approved, the city will only give the subdivision the go-ahead whenthe aggregates licence is surrendered.

He's notsurprised Caivan made the application, though.

"You likely have a property owner that is anxious to move forward with that property. They're looking at all the various processes they have to undertake and they're saying, 'Can we do these concurrently?'"

Moffatt has a vote on planning committee. Now that the file has been pulled back, he expects staff to rewrite their reportwithout the sentence about the MNR's stance, and to fully explain the process involved inwinding down a gravel pit.

"Something as small as a one-sentence inaccuracy can be very impactful in terms of evaluating an application," he said.

At the end of the day,Moffatt saidit makes sense to buildhousing on a spent gravel pit.

"To be perfectly honest, I'd much rather development [in Barrhaven] go in that direction than south of Barnsdale Road. South of Barnsdale happens to be very good agricultural lands," he said.

Roughly one-thirdof the Brazeau Pit property cannot be turned into homes, however, as it falls outside the linewhere urban development is permitted and also withina 500-metre buffer zone of the Trail Road landfill.

CBC's requests for comment from Caivan and Marcel BrazeauLtd.were not returned.