I am submitting this comment…

I am submitting this comment because of a major concern I have with the Miller Paving proposal to establish a contractor’s yard at the southwest corner of the aggregate pit.

The Ministry should not support removing a portion of the property from Aggregate Resource Act obligations when Miller has not complied with its site plan or rehabilitated the land. The Ministry has a legal and political responsibility to protect the Oak Ridges Moraine from this illegal intrusion and conversion into an illegal use.

My concern is simple. The proposed ultimate use, a contractor’s yard, is illegal. This can easily be determined based on the documents in the possession of the Ministry. The Ministry should not engage in discussions with, or condone, illegal behavior. In fact, what Miller is trying to do is to shift the burden of this illegal use to a local government who does not have the degree of sophistication required to enforce the law.

Instead of permitting this illegal conduct and actions, the Ministry should require immediate compliance with the law. In this case, that requires the removal and rehabilitation of the area currently used illegally for a contractor’s yard, something that the Ministry identified in 2015.

The reasons for my position are straight forward and are taken from the Ministry’s own documents:

1. Establishing a contractor’s yard is contrary to the Oak Ridges Moraine legislation unless the use LEGALLY existed when the ORM legislation came into force in November 2001. Similar in operation to the Planning Act (s.34(9), the regulations under the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act (s.6(1) of Regulation 140/02) limit uses to ones that legally existed on November 2001.

2. In other words, they cannot establish a contractor’s yard unless it legally existed in November 2001.

3. A contractor’s yard could only be legally established in accordance with applicable law. In this case, that would require permission under the site plan under the Aggregate Resources Act.

4. In 2010, the Ministry wrote to Miller Paving and told them that the storage of goods and equipment southeast of the asphalt plant was not permitted and was contrary to the approved site plan. It is of note that the area in which this illegal contractor’s yard was established is to the southeast of the asphalt pit. It is nowhere near the M3-1 zone that Miller apparently relies on to try and establish the “right”. Ministry correspondence is attached as file “2010 Ministry letter”.

5. They also told Miller that if they want a contractor’s yard they have to show how it is related to an aggregate operation.

6. In 2015, Miller admitted that it unilaterally constructed a contractor’s yard at the southwest corner of its property between November 2014 and March 2015. This is remarkable and brazen conduct given the demand and warning that this could not occur in the absence of a site plan amendment in 2010. More important is that the use was admittedly introduced in 2014 to 2015 when it was prohibited by the Oak Ridges Moraine Act. From the Ministry’s perspective, you should see this as both a legal and political problem.

7. In 2015, the Ministry again told Miller to fix its non-compliance. This Ministry correspondence is attached as Ministry 2015 letter.

8. Showing how road signs, road construction materials and road related equipment are related to an aggregate pit is an absurd proposition. I hope the Minister and the Ministry staff see the absurdity in this. It is inappropriate to establish a contractor’s yard under an aggregate pit license.

9. Rather than comply with law, Miller has ignored the Ministry and chosen to flaunt the law. Demands since 2015 are something Miller ignored using the ostrich fully immersed head-in-sand approach.

10. To the surrounding community, the only reasonable conclusion is that Miller has special right, they are above the law, they are permitted to mock the law with full support of the Ministry. The obvious implication is that the law does not apply to Miller.

11. Miller was warned in both 2010 and 2015 that its conduct was in breach of the site plan and therefore illegal. It was invited to, but never did, file a site plan amendment application with the Ministry. Presumably, this is a clear admission that it cannot justify the use. Despite this, Miller has turned to the Ministry to now ask that the license be amended so that it can go try its ostrich fully immersed head-in-sand approach with the Township of Uxbirdge.

12. I note in passing that no site plan has been approved by the Township of Uxbridge and that the entire Township is subject to site plan control under the Township By-laws. I also note in passing that, even though the Township of Uxbridge has a zoning by-law in place, that zoning by-law has been overwritten by the Oak Ridges Moraine Act.

13. In short, this means that no development can legally occur outside of the scope of an aggregate resources license unless it complies with the Oak Ridges Moraine Act (a contractor’s hard does not) AND a site plan is approved.

14. Based on the above, once the land is removed from the Aggregate Resources Act, the following would have to exist for the use to be legal:

a. The use would have to legally exist as of November 2001;
b. It must have been made legal before November 2001 either under the site plan under the Aggregate Resources Act or through an approved site plan in accordance with municipal by-laws; and
c. The use would have to have been legally established before, and continued, fro, before November 2001 to present day;

15. None of these conditions exist. This is established by the Ministry’s own correspondence to Miller Paving in 2010 and 2015.

16. As such, the use is illegal.

Based on the above, I strongly urge the Ministry to deny this application. It is my understanding that no site plan can or should be modified or approved unless the site is first in compliance with the existing site plan. Miller should not be able to gain compliance by removing those portions that do not comply with its obligations. This is a move of convenience.

Until Miller Paving fully remediates the pit and removes the illegal contractor’s yard, the application should not be considered. The proposed use is contrary to the Oak Ridges Moraine Act and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan. This is an important public resource that is universally valued by members of the public regardless of political affiliation. The Ministry has a responsibility to protect it from this illegal intrusion and conversion into an illegal use.