Blair residents escalate warehouse concern to Superior Court

Residents of the Village of Blair are now seeking help from Ontario's Superior Court in a quest to shut down plans to build a large warehouse.

Blair Engaged is a citizens' group, formed by people living near the site of the proposed 100,000-square metre warehouse. Together, they've filed an application asking Ontario's Superior Court to conduct a judicial review of the city's decision to move ahead with the highly-contested plan. 

Cambridge Coun. Shannon Adshade said that's surprising.

"I thought we had done public consultations, delegations ... I thought we'd gone through all the proper procedures and this would be finalized by now. I guess not."

The highly-contested plan had received a final go-ahead from Cambridge city council earlier this year. But a group of Blair residents are worried the warehouse will not fit the area's long standing heritage conservation plan.

Alan Van Norman, co-chair of Blair Engaged, said they would like to have a face-to-face meeting with decision-makers behind the project.

"We would be willing to consider mitigation measures ... moving the building 50 or so metres farther west, building a proper berm to isolate the building from the village. I think having truck traffic enter and exit on Fountain Street would alleviate a lot of our concerns," he said.

Redirect the conversation?

Adshade said the group should try and sit down with the development company, Broccolini Real Estate Group, instead of letting city council act as a middleman.

"Rather than jumping to court, if they tried to express more concerns with how this development could sit in the community, that might be the best route," Adshade said.

He said he is not sure if city council could facilitate an in-person meeting between Broccolini and Blair Engaged at this point. Adshade said the development group has already made "a lot of compromises."

"We have a truck cap, which I think is very important: 262 trucks per day. We also are putting up a living wall that I think will shield development from the Village of Blair and I think those are two really, really important compromises," Adshade said.

"That's why I reconsidered my vote in that matter because if it went to the Ontario Land Tribunal, they didn't have to include that in their proposal and I was afraid we'd lose those accommodations."

But Van Norman said that's not enough.

"Even at their truck cap ... that's still going to be a big impact on the residential portion of Blair. That truck traffic will go right past a dozen homes, many with small children. There are options that were not fully explored," he said.

"The whole development will be looming over the village."

Mayor 'robustly' defends warehouse project

In a statement to CBC News, Mayor Kathryn McGarry said the city was notified of Blair Engaged's latest move and are in the process of having a legal team review the information.

"Mayor and council followed all policies, procedures and legislation in respect to this process and staff will defend this robustly," the statement said. 

"All decisions made about this matter were done so in open council."