A very challenging proposal has been made to King:  amend  zoning and official plan and see a new commercial enterprise leveraging the beauty of the landscape by offering both wedding & banquet facilities and children’s camp in the countryside of the Oak Ridges Moraine.  The concept and proposed execution is creative.  We all know that King needs to increase its commercial base.  But, is the specific proposed location (between Hwy 400 and Weston Rd., south of Lloydtown Aurora Rd.) really right?

First public meeting for the application was conducted September 26^th.  You can read the full planning report here.   Agent for the proponent (Peter Eliopoulos of byPeterandPauls.com) made a comprehensive presentation.  And many residents voiced their questions and concerns.

Aerial View of the site for the proposed wedding venue and campground

Water: i) The site is an area of high and low aquifer vulnerability in the mapping of Oak Ridges Moraine.  ii) The anticipated water usage is high at 50,000 liters/day,equivalent to 29 homes; hence there is risk of negative impact on current neighbouring private wells.

 Land Use:   i) The site itself has been reclassified as rural (as opposed to agricultural)  in the recently approved York Region 2010 Official Plan.  (The reclassification is a result of YR having reviewed all its land mass using LEAR (land evaluation and area review) which in essence is looking at both the soil composition and the topography, degree of fragmentation etc.  Interestingly, as a result of using LEAR the proportion of King’s land being designated agriculture has increased from 49% to 78%; however, the land in question was reclassified the other way i.e. from agriculture to rural. ) With “rural” designation major recreation such a golf courses is envisioned; is this comparable? Another expectation of “rural” is retaining the character of the rural lands; does the proposal do that?

ii) The Oak Ridges Moraine Countryside Plan (ORMCP) classifies the site as “countryside.”  As such  the objectives are to “maintain, improve or restore the ecological integrity of the Plan area in addition to maintain[ing] the quantity and quality of the groundwater and surface water.” It is not at all clear that the proposal fulfills these objectives.

3rd, it is interesting to note that 40% of the site’s soil  (i.e. 19 ha, 49 acres) soil is classified as prime agricultural as it grades at 1-3. But, for whatever reason it has never been successfully farmed.

Noise:  What will the incremental noise be to the current low-high roar of Hwy 400?  At the site on a weekend  there could be 3 weddings at one time in their respective large tents.  Proponents claim that 21^st century technology enables controlled delivery of music  to a confined space such as the intended tents.  As several residents pointed out there are also the 600 excited, exuberant guests.  At the site during the week there could be 200 campers.

Traffic:  How will 200 (forecasted guest population in one evening projected at 600) safely arrive and depart?  Their route will be either to Hwy 400  or to Weston Road, each 1 km away.

This shows how the whole site would be used in the proposal

Finally, there is the “elephant in the room”:  there was significant site alteration (including the digging of a canal and of a man made pond) without permits even though a bylaw prohibiting such without permits has been in place since 1997.  Even if none of the above challenges existed or were satisfactorily addressed, how do we approve this without essentially condoning a practise of “do it, and ask for forgiveness later.”

In summary:  creative, exciting and very challenging.  This project will cause us to think very hard about what sustainability really means!