From the Elmira Independent

Residents in Woolwich Township are gearing up for a fight.

An unprecedented number of gravel pit applications — five in total — have come forward to the township.
Two, in particular, are cause for concern — one proposed by Capital Paving, near the village of West Montrose, and one on the Hunsberger and Snyder properties near Conestogo. The total property area for the pit would be 411.6 acres, of which 218 acres would be licenced.
The Capital Pit would comprise 102.7 acres, of which 94.5 would be licenced.
Three more pit applications are also underway — an expansion of an existing pit on Middlebrook Road, an expansion of the Sandy Hills Pit near Floradale, and a pit on Jigs Hollow Road, between Winterbourne and Conestogo.
Residents claim that these gravel pits, if approved, will negatively impact their way of life, through increased truck traffic, noise and loss of enjoyment of property.
There are also concerns about the environmental impact of the pits, particularly the Capital Paving pit, which proposes digging below the water table to get access to some of the aggregate.
The question is, can these pits be stopped? And should they?
After all, according to the Ontario Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, every Ontarian uses 14 tonnes of stone, sand and gravel each year.
On the organization’s website, www.theholestory.ca, it states that “our industry only produces as much stone, sand and gravel (also known as ‘aggregate’) as the market demands. In fact, we’re using aggregate faster than we can develop available supplies for the future. The projected consumption of stone, sand and gravel in Ontario for the next 25 years is 4 billion tones — and the majority of it is for public infrastructure.”
Aggregate is used for road and highway construction, including asphalt and concrete. That aggregate has to come from somewhere — and Woolwich Township is a rich source.
However, local residents are concerned, and have valid reasons for those concerns.
Tony Dowling, a spokesperson for BridgeKeepers, a group that is concerned about the Capital Paving application, said he has been in contact with other groups that have tried to oppose gravel pits.
It can be a long, draining process, one that requires money, time, and a concerted effort.
Coalition Caledon, which opposed gravel pits in their area, fought for 12 years, and spent $875,000 in the effort. Similar groups have raised similar amounts of money — with limited success.
Essentially, said Dowling, “unless you have a clear reason for the pit not to happen other than NIMBY (not in my backyard,) you are going to have a gravel pit.”
Dowling and his group claim that their opposition is not NIMBY-inspired. They have very real concerns about how the gravel pit would impact the “Covered Bridge experience,” as well as how the increased traffic of gravel trucks in the area would impact local pedestrians, including that of conservative Mennonites. They are also concerned about the potential environmental impacts of the pit, which proposes to dig under the water table as part of its plan.
Ric Holt, of Gravel Watch Ontario, a local grassroots organization based in Elora, said it is extremely difficult to fight gravel pits.
And, because most opposition comes from neighbours to the pit, it can become an intensely personal fight.
“They’ve got you where you live,” said Holt. “This is your home, where you drive, and where your kids play.”
Holt said a recent battle against a proposed gravel pit outside of the village of Inverhaugh ended badly for those who were opposed to the pit.
“People just moved out when they lost (to the OMB).”
In March of this year, a settlement was reached at the Ontario Municipal Board between Centre Wellington and the applicant, The Murray Group, even though an active citizens group, Pilkington East Residents Association, opposed the pit.
Residents in Conestogo are also raising the alarm about the proposed Hunder Pit, which would be located on the corner of Katherine Street and Hunsberger Road, just outside the village of Conestogo.
Keri Martin Vrbanac, president of the Conestogo-Winterbourne Residents association, attended the public meeting put forward by the Ministry of Natural Resources held on May 4.
At the time, Martin-Vrbanac was not convinced that traffic will not be a problem, considering the high volume of truck traffic that Conestogo already experiences on Sawmill Road, which runs right by Conestogo Public School.
“There are safety concerns already with traffic on Sawmill Road,” said Martin-Vrbanac. “And the Crowsfoot Road intersection has always been a disaster waiting to happen.”
Indeed, residents in Conestogo have already been working with the school board to improve the safety of students crossing the busy regional road, and increased gravel truck traffic — an estimated 12 truck trips per hour — is something that would only add to the problem.
These are some of the concerns facing Dan Kennaley, the township’s director of planning and engineering.
There are two approval processes that gravel pits have to go through. One is through the Ministry of Natural Resources, in which applicants face a lengthy pre-approval process before the application is presented to the public.
An application, if it meets the minimum technical standards as outlined by the Ministry of Natural Resources, is then able to proceed to a 45-day notification and consultation period. During this period, comment from the public is welcomed.
If objections are received, the applicant “works towards resolving the concerns/objections,” according to Deb Schwier, aggregate technical specialist with the MNR. If the objections are not resolved, a final report is submitted, giving the objectors 20 days to respond.
If they fail to respond, it is deemed there is no longer an objection. If there are still objections, the application is forwarded to the Ontario Municipal Board for a ruling.
The second process is to get the proper zoning from the municipality, which in this case is Woolwich Township.
Gravel pit applications come in to the township, for locations that are already recognized as aggregate resource areas, through information kept by the Region of Waterloo.
Areas listed on the Region’s mineral aggregate resource area map, however, are not “designated” aggregate.
“It’s not a designation, but an understanding that there is a potential supply of gravel in the area. It’s not a guarantee,” said Kennaley, who added he has never seen this many gravel pit applications in such a short period of time. “I’ve only been here a year and a half, but we’ve never seen this many pits, or the amount of land included in all the pit applications. We’ve never seen this before.”
Kennaley, in anticipation of processing multiple pit applications, ushered through an official plan amendment at the township that requires more information from gravel pit applicants, including traffic and noise studies.
“The whole idea (of OPA 13) is to put us in a better position to evaluate these applications. We want applicants to understand more specifically what we are looking for, what reports and studies are going to be required.”
Kennaley said that while the township is required to look at and review each application, it doesn’t mean they will necessarily be approved — or get everything they ask for.
In May, a spokesman for the Hunder pit, David Sisco, noted that there are advantages to “local” gravel being extracted close to areas where new construction is slated to take place, such as in Waterloo Region, where an estimated 250,000 new residents expected to settle in the region.
“You want to be environmentally conservative, and you don’t to have to take (the gravel) all over the place,” said Sisco.
Kennaley, however, pointed out that this argument doesn’t always look at the whole picture.
“(Applicants) don’t necessarily pick the next best place to get gravel,” he said. “They pick a place where there is gravel, and a willing seller.”
The township’s job, then, is to look at each application and do an extensive review, looking at planning and environmental issues, as well as the concerns expressed by residents and neighbours to the proposed pit.
“It’s not unusual at all for an application to be influenced by community groups having input into the process,” said Kennaley. “I don’t want anyone to think we are resigned to having to support any of these applications.
“We’re obliged to look at our applications in a proper manner; part of that means, at this point, to keep a very open mind.”
Zone changes for gravel pits can take a great deal of time. Kennaley said it can take anywhere from six months to a year to process gravel pit applications.
And, at the end of that time, whether gravel pits are approved or not, there is the likelihood of an Ontario Municipal Board hearing — the final court of appeal for municipal planning.
Unless there are valid planning arguments against a pit, it is likely that a gravel pit will receive approval at this level, although there may be restrictions placed on size, extraction rates, and measures to reduce noise and traffic impacts.
However, according to Holt, there can even be more concerns once a pit ceases operating, years down the road, since rehabilitation of gravel pits seems to be spotty, to say the least.
“We did an analysis, and we found that less than half of the land being disturbed is being rehabilitated,” said Holt.
However, according to Schwier, gravel pit operators are obligated to rehabilitate their pits.
“A licence can not be surrendered until final rehabilitation has been completed or in the case of a draft plan approval for a subdivision, the licence may be surrendered before final development takes place,” said Schwier.
She said that most pits are filled with water and become lakes or large ponds.
Recently, area residents got a first-hand view of how gravel pit rehabilitation is indeed possible. In June, the Grand River Conservation Authority officially launched the Snyder’s Flats Rotary Forest, where a former gravel pit is being transformed back into a natural landscape. The area will include walking trails and restored forest and grasslands, over a 240-acre area near Bloomingdale.
Pits must also comply with many regulations, said Schwier, including the completion of annual Compliance Assessment Reports, ensuring that they are operating under standard operating conditions.
Holt, however, contends that these self-reporting methods are suspect.
That, combined reduced inspection staff also makes it difficult to ensure gravel pits are operating within the parameters specified under ministry guidelines.
“I have an email from the ministry that says pit sites are inspected once every seven years. In the meantime, they are doing self-monitoring,” said Holt.
As for Dowling, his BridgeKeepers group is keeping an active eye on the process, and continuing to inform residents of their concerns, both through a Facebook page, and by having a presence at local events, including the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival.
“We have to keep getting the message out there,” said Dowling. “You need to get the message out within our own community, that there are four or five gravel pits that will be around the village,if approved.”