Hello, we are property…

Hello, we are property owners of an 8.6 acre parcel of land in Fenwick. We are currently navigating a zoning issue with the Town of Pelham after we recently learned that the zoning for our property had changed without any notification or consultation with us. An environmental protection one (EP1) restriction was placed on 90% of the property and we are now prohibited from any type of development on the land. We have also learned that our property has now been designated as a significant woodland. This is due to a recent zoning/planning overhaul undertaken by the Region of Niagara and the Town of Pelham.

We feel that these very restrictive changes are a situation of disguised expropriation by the Region of Niagara and Town of Pelham. These changes have affected many home and property owners and at no time were we personally notified of the changes, therefore preventing us from voicing our thoughts.

Through speaking with an environmental consultant we have learned that our property is located within the Greenbelt Plan area but is not part of the Provincial Natural Heritage System. The property is designated as Protected Countryside, and the policies under section 3.2.2 of the Greenbelt Plan (2017) apply.  These provincial policies permit some disturbance to woodlands as long as there is no negative impact.

However, the property also falls under policy section 3.1.9.6 of the New Niagara Regional Official Plan (2022). These Regional policies prohibit any disturbance to Significant Woodlands.  However, the Region is required to implement the Greenbelt Plan natural heritage policies, so our question is: will municipalities have the ability to implement more restrictive policies than the province once the proposed Provincial Policy Statement has been approved?

Our concern is; if this is the case, the implications for us as landowners would be much more restrictive compared to others across the province.

As we understand it, the updated natural heritage policies that the province is proposing do still allow development within a significant woodland, provided there is no negative impact to the feature or its functions which an environmental impact study would have to demonstrate. This means that the Region of Niagara will have in place more restrictive policies for development within natural features than the province does, which clearly can impact property value and/or developability for landowners who have owned wooded residential lots prior to the Regional changes.

Thank you for your consideration.