I am one of 5 property…

I am one of 5 property owners who are currently following the process to develop 10 (70' frontage) residential building lots in Lasalle, Ontario. Specifically the lots are on Brooklyn Avenue from 13th Street to Huron Church (170m). The parcel is about 1.3 hectares.
We have had the Environmental Study completed on the property and it is in review with the MNRF. We know that they have deemed a portion of this parcel as suitable Eastern Foxsnake habitat. There are no snakes there but it falls within the 1.5 km radius of a snake sighting.
This parcel of land already has a paved road running longitudinally down the center, however services need to be added to make them compliant building lots. Over 70 % of the parcel is currently being maintained as residential lawns to adjacent houses. There are trees, brush and weeds on the balance.
This 1.3 hectare of land is completely enclosed and "land locked" by busy residential roads. Two roads, Normandy and Huron Church Line are main thoroughfares with heavy traffic. There are residential neighborhoods completely surrounding this property.
The 5 individual owners of this parcel are not developers. We do not have the financial resources and contacts of land developers who can overcome the hurdles presented by the MNRF and other government entities. For the most part we just want to build family homes for ourselves and in some cases for relatives. We do want to sellout to a land developer who in turn will develop and sell these lots at a significant profit.
In summary, I understand and agree with the efforts to preserve ES habitat. However in this specific real example, the reality is that, in my opinion, no snake will successfully migrate to this parcel of land. If they do, chance of survival is slim given the vehicle traffic and the non natural threats totally surrounding the parcel. If a snake did settle here it would soon eliminate all small rodents and other food sources and it would need to move on risking certain "death by traffic". Additionally, the municipality maintains the road on this parcel such as snow removal and edge grass cutting. I am sure that they could use the additional property taxes from 10 upscale homes.

Please consider modifying the ES regulations to allow small land parcels that are completely surrounded by streets and houses to be developed. Alternatively, planners designating ES habitat should have guidelines that allow them to consider the chances of survival for endangered species on newly designated habitat.

Thank you for your consideration.