Cambridge council halts controversial warehouse project in Blair

Cambridge councillors have voted against two motions that would have given the OK for the construction of a warehouse in the area of Blair.

Council needed to sign off on a heritage impact assessment and a transportation impact study before construction could begin at the Old Mill Road site. But during Monday night's special council meeting, council voted five to four against approving the reports. 

"Council has a responsibility to represent the whole community. This isn't a Blair issue; this is a City of Cambridge issue," Coun. Mike Devine said during Monday night's meeting.

"I can't support the motions ... I'm very concerned about the size of the facilities as it relates to the amount of jobs will have per square foot and it's going to be very tiny and I believe that property could be put to better use."

Coun. Shannon Adshade also voted against the motions, saying council needs to listen to the concerns and wants of the community. 

"We had 50 delegates that spoke against this and not one single delegate came forward in support, so we do really need to listen to what the community wants and I feel very strongly they don't want this in our community and so I can't support this motion." 

The decision was applauded by the community group Blair Engaged, which has argued against the project.

On Twitter, the group thanked councillors who "asked many questions and voted against" the reports.

"Thank you for standing up for the democratic process. We are happy to talk and be engaged at any time."

Project could benefit city: councillor

Councillors Scott Hamilton, Donna Reid and Pam Wolf, and Mayor Kathryn McGarry all voted in favour of the motions and said the project would bring economic growth to the community.

"I can't shake the fact that this is a large parcel of land that is zoned as industrial and it's beside the busiest highway in Canada," Hamilton said.

"I look at the number of jobs that could be produced and I look at the benefit to the city in terms of tourism, prestige and things like that." 

Wolf said traffic-calming measures, capping the number of trucks travelling to the site and a single construction operation were different ways the developers tried to minimize an impact on the community.

"I know many residents want us to not vote for this tonight, but I truly believe that it's the best decision for our city and the community."

McGarry told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition on Tuesday that she did hear support for the project from community members, businesses and chambers of commerce.

But because the project had become controversial, they told her, they wouldn't speak out in favour of it at council meetings because they had concerns over negative backlash on their businesses or on themselves.

MZO issued for project

The warehouse project has received a ministerial zoning order, or MZO, which allows the provincial minister of municipal affairs to bypass local planning rules to spur development.

Cambridge council approved the MZO in April 2021 unanimously for the project by Broccolini Real Estate Group.

The use of MZOs has been controversial in Cambridge and other cities. The issue of MZOs came to light in Cambridge recently after news a developer wanted to build a 100,000-square-metre warehouse with 110 loading docks and parking for more than 800 automobiles and 350 transport trucks in the Blair area of the city.

The province has also been criticized for pushing through projects in Toronto.There was concern about an Amazon warehouse proposed to be built on a wetland in Pickering that has since been cancelled, as well as a case in Stratford where the city approved, then asked the province to rescind, an MZO for a proposed glass company to build a factory in the city.

Project not entirely off table

McGarry said council's decision on Monday doesn't mean the project is entirely off the table. She said the minister and the property owner have different options to move the project ahead but that will be up to them to decide.

She said other projects could still be built on the property as well.

"This land is still zoned as M1 industrial for the vast majority of it and there are many things that could be built there and according to the previous plan that had conditional approvals in 2015, there are no height restrictions imposed," she said.

"The only thing that couldn't be built there was a stamping plant."

LISTEN | Cambridge mayor explains why council voted not to accept reports linked to controversial warehouse project.