Editor,
Your alertness in identifying the implications that follow from the recent ice jam on the Bighead River is commendable. As noted in the 3R Rant, a massive building and underground parking have been approved for construction on the floodplain directly behind the Meaford Library. The building is initially described as providing affordable apartment units and then changes to become a luxury condominium.
Unlike the SkyDev development, the floodplain development includes the financial interests of a local developer. Also, one of the floodplain property owners has since been involved in litigation to nullify his involvement in the floodplain deal. The proposed development no longer corresponds to what was approved.
Regarding approval, there are some murky circumstances associated with Meaford’s floodplain development. The initial proposal was soundly rejected at a public planning meeting. The meeting was well attended by Meaford residents and multiple concerns were identified as follows: official plan and zoning violation; massive size; high density; no greenspace; deceptive building diagram; building height exceeds the upper limit; traffic patterns; parking enforcement; non-conforming design in the waterfront and heritage districts; limits access to recreational fishing; use of pile drivers and blasting to excavate for underground parking; excavation of the floodplain to a depth below the adjacent River; close proximity to sewage siphons; potential sewage release; location within the Intake Protection Zone for Meaford’s water supply; insurance denial due to floodplain location; exposes Meaford residents to major liability; high-risk location due to ice jams in the nearby River.
The Meaford Independent reported that the public planning meeting held on May 16/22 was concluded by a former Director of Development who assured “the folks” that the Municipality’s building standards would be upheld. “The folks” then left the meeting with the impression that a “seriously flawed” development would be rejected. In the ensuing months, the development was not rejected but neglected leading to referral and approval of the development by the Ontario Land Tribunal. In the language of the Tribunal, the referral was justified by the Municipality’s “neglect to make a decision”. Of current concern is that the development is creeping forward. The Site Plan Approval has also been referred to the Land Tribunal due to neglect to make a decision by senior Municipal staff. Both the Site and Heritage Plans are facing approval by the Land Tribunal.
There are 2 noteworthy features associated with the recent ice jam at the lower end of Bayfield St. Page 4 in the March 12/26 edition of The Meaford Independent has 6 photos of the flood conditions. Photo #2 shows that the proposed building and underground parking area are covered with ice chunks and floodwater. This calls into question the validity of the Two-Zone study that enabled the floodplain development. The Two-Zone study distinguishes between a flood zone and a flood fringe. Construction is permitted in the fringe area. However, the flood levels of the Bighead River were supplemented with an unknown quantity of “surrogate data” from a different river. It’s obvious from photo #2 that the flood fringe is well within the flood zone. This suggests the use of bogus information in calculating the fringe area. It can also be noted that construction of the building will reduce the area of the current floodplain thereby increasing the severity of ice jams and diverting more ice and floodwater onto adjacent properties.
The second feature of note is that the flood has apparently quadrupled the area of a new floodplain being formed shortly downstream from the Trowbridge St. bridge. According to local lore, the Bighead River is so-named because the spring thaw causes a big head of water to surge downstream. The surge carries eroded sand and clay particles that are deposited in the river delta. The process is identical to the formation of the initial floodplain where boreholes indicate that the underlying footing is composed of “silty-sand” and “silty-clay” deposits.
Rather than dredging the Meaford Harbour at considerable expense, the second floodplain could be zoned as hazard land and offered for sale. Developers will leap at the opportunity to purchase it at a bargain price and then use job neglect to have the Land Tribunal approve all applications. A massive condominium will arise with luxury rental units being offered for sale to Toronto investors. Underground parking will be included too!
The satire in the above paragraph matches the current floodplain development.
Jim Molineux, Meaford
