By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A highly anticipated court challenge by York1 against Chatham-Kent regarding zoning at the landfill development proposed near Dresden has been rescheduled.
Originally slated for Sept. 21, the Superior Court of Justice hearing has been pushed to Nov. 17, officials said.
According to C-K corporate communications manager Eric Labadie, the municipality asked for the postponement to allow its legal team time to review “thousands” of pages of material.
“A deluge of information has been sent over recently,” Labadie told The Voice, adding Chatham-Kent’s legal staff had 20 days to review the large volume of documents that were recently submitted.
“The additional time will allow the municipality and its legal team to thoroughly review the materials,” he added.
Reaction to the news from two local groups fighting York1 was mixed.
Dresden Citizens Against Reckless Environmental Disposal (C.A.R.E.D.) chair Rob Simpson denounced the postponement.
“For the residents of Dresden, another delay is frustrating,” Simpson said in an email statement. “The community has been living with the uncertainty surrounding this proposal for a long time, and people, understandably, want answers about what may ultimately happen at the Irish School Road property.”
Noting the group respects the court process, Simpson said the non-profit will be following the matter closely and will continue to review the facts and keep the community informed.
“Our position has not changed,” he added. “Dresden is our home. We intend to remain informed, involved and respectfully engaged for as long as necessary.”
Over at Dresden Together – another grassroots organization fighting the landfill – spokeswoman Wendy Vercauteren thinks the holdup is positive.
“I think it’s great news because it gives the municipality more time to review documents and complete their investigation,” Vercauteren said. “The longer it drags on, the better for us. There’s no guarantee we will win and there’s no guarantee we will lose. We have to keep fighting to the end.”
The municipality would like to remind citizens the court ruling is not a final decision as to whether York1 can proceed. The court case only deals with whether local zoning requirements apply to the York1 proposal. The GTA-based company contends the project does not require zoning approvals; however, Chatham-Kent disagrees, stating approvals are necessary.
Of note, once the zoning decision is reached, residents will again have an opportunity to provide feedback on the Environmental Registry of Ontario for a 45-day period. The municipality will post that information when it becomes available.
By the time the two sides meet in court this fall, 33 months will have passed since the York1 proposal came to light. The proposal sparked a public outcry, with leading environmental and First Nation groups joining the chorus.
Premier Doug Ford has stated that reopening the Dresden dump is necessary, specifically naming it in last year’s Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act (Bill 5). Ford claims the landfill is needed in the event U.S. President closes the borders to Ontario’s trash. Currently, substantial amounts of Ontario garbage are shipped to Michigan and New York State.
