Stovel and Associates Inc. …

Stovel and Associates Inc. (SAI) is the planning consultant for Greenhorizons Holdings Inc. and The Greenhorizons Group of Farms Ltd. ("Greenhorizons"), 1231 Shantz Station Road Inc. ("Shantz") and Willow Valley Holdings Inc. ("Willow"). My clients request that their lands be included within the Urban Area of the City of Hamilton and designated as Employment Lands.

The lands in question have frontage on Upper James Road. This portion of Upper James Road is fully serviced with municipal sewer and water.

In addition, my clients' lands are immediately east of the John C. Munro International Airport ("Airport") and their lands are included within the Airport Influence Area. My client's lands include a golf course and a sod farm. Any form of livestock farming on my clients' lands could result in bad planning due to the potential to create land use conflicts with existing development.

My client's lands are located in close proximity to the recently approved Amazon Fulfillment Centre. We are of the view that the economic pull of this massive warehousing complex, in combination with the presence of the Airport, will outweigh demand for other lands in the City to be used for Employment Land purposes. In particular, the large parcels of developable lands near the Airport and Amazon Fulfillment Centre will be sought by development community for future Employment Uses. Proper planning to recognize the reality of this situation is needed to allow for more and better jobs in the Hamilton Area. We are of the view that the planning and economic studies prepared by the City do not place sufficient weight on the reality that the Airport and the Amazon Fulfillment Centre will create more employment opportunities for the region if planning roadblocks are removed.

It is clear that the development community, primarily the developers of industrial and commercial uses associated with the Airport, want larger parcels. The larger blocks eliminate the need for massive land assemblies and reduce the overall cost of development. My clients' properties are the right size for today's development land size needs.