By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
NANTICOKE—Empire Communities’ proposed major residential/industrial plans for 4,200 acres of land in Nanticoke were the catalyst for a heated exchange between Haldimand Council members and representatives from Stelco, who claim Empire’s plans could threaten their future business operations.
Empire’s plan, contingent on a Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) from the Provincial government, is to establish a residential community and then utilize the service infrastructure installed for that community to establish a new industrial space with the capacity for up to 11,000 new jobs in the area.
Haldimand County CAO Craig Manley explained the need for the MZO: “The Province has to agree to converting some land that’s been designated for industrial and employment purposes for a long time to residential development.”
He added that even if an MZO is obtained, it would only be a first step forward, leading to a complicated process and a series of technical reviews before any shovels go in the ground.
“We believe there needs to be a Master Plan that is informed by consultation … that outlines where the major streets are, the residential, commercial, and institutional blocks, the employment areas, recreational areas, trails, the whole idea of how this thing is going to function,” said Manley. “We do have an actual opportunity, in my opinion, to create a significant regional employment cluster, which has been the intent of those lands for over 40 years.”
Paul Simon, General Counsel, and Trevor Harris, VP of Corporate Affairs for Stelco, appeared before Council and explained why the potential development concerns them.
“We’ve heard a lot about transparency, public interest, and accountability,” said Harris. “At this stage of the game we’ve seen none of that. No one in this chamber, around this council table, or from the proponent, contacted our business, or any other that we’ve had conversations with over the last 24 hours, which is the amount of time we’ve had to try and process this information.”
“We have been a member of this community for over 40 years,” explained Simon. “We are a significant employer. We employ over 1,400 individuals directly. Estimates are that we employ, directly or indirectly, over 5,000 people. We represent 25% of the economic activity in this community.”
Simon indicated that Stelco learned about the proposed development, which would surround their Nanticoke facility, through the media.
“As recently as last year, the County prepared a comprehensive review. This was not reflected in the comprehensive review. A community representing 40,000 residents not being reflected in the County’s official plan seems to lack foresight,” continued Simon. “We think it’s appropriate to have a robust and open public consultation in advance of making the application to the MZO, so that you can hear the concerns of the community, rather than relying on well-connected industry to come before this committee.”
Harris spoke to the significance of approving the development: “Based on the information we have before us today, we can provide you no assurance that we will be here in 20 years. There is nothing in this proposal that gives us any confidence that our business can survive that type of development for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, we have been provided no data to make any detailed calculation as to what the impact might be…. This puts us at risk, this puts the economy at risk.”
He continued, “We are encouraging you to take a deep breath, take a step back, and to enter consultations with businesses like ourselves, with constituents, with residents, prior to moving forward with an irreversible MZO. Understand what the consequences might be and give us a chance to participate in that transparent process, to ensure that what you’re doing is in the public interest and that accountability is preserved.”
Haldimand Mayor Ken Hewitt fired back at Smith and Harris, saying, “I find these comments highly offensive.”
“We are looking to try to help and grow our community. Yes, we respect the history Stelco has had in our community, but to suggest we’re going through a process without consideration of our industry, or the public, is misleading at best,” Hewitt elaborated. “Affordable housing can only happen two ways. Either the government donates money, which we all know isn’t going to happen, or we start to create some supply. We can’t create supply if we don’t have the opportunity to grow…. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, but we can’t get off first base without at least swinging at a ball here.”
Harris wouldn’t budge, however, noting that while Stelco is not implying that either Empire Communities or Haldimand County Council members are doing anything “untoward,” he remained incredulous at the situation: “Nobody had the courtesy to inform the largest industrial business in the region, that is at the centre of this development, that this was taking place. That makes us angry.”
Stephen Armstrong of Armstrong Planning & Project Management, on behalf of Empire Communities, said that the land purchase is a done deal: “If it makes you uncomfortable, all I can tell Council is the deal is firm, the conditions have been addressed, and it’s Empire’s lands to move forward with.”
Manley ultimately shouldered the blame for not communicating with Stelco and other industrial businesses near the planned development lands: “Should I have picked up a phone and said, ‘Trevor, this is what’s going on’? Probably. I didn’t, I apologize. I’m going to put it down to my error, and to the organization responding to something that is not our normal planning process…. You have my commitment that, should this move forward, there is absolutely going to be significant opportunities for consultation.”
Armstrong asserted that having further consultations prior to receiving an MZO would be a “waste of time, because we don’t know what the Province will do.”
He concluded, “We came to you, we want to be in Caledonia, we want to be in Hagersville, and we want to create something really spectacular with Nanticoke…. You have an opportunity to make a decision where you can change and redo something that hasn’t been working for 40 years. It’s my humble submission is that I think it’s something the County should take advantage of.”
Councillor Bernie Corbett, a Stelco retiree, declared a conflict of interest and removed himself from the proceedings. The other members of Council were advised that they would be responsible for determining whether they too had a conflict of interest regarding the proposal. Councillor Tony Dalimonte, a former Stelco employee as well, stated that he would participate in the vote regarding the MZO, but would seek legal counsel following the session to ensure he was not also subject to a conflict of interest.
Council then voted unanimously in favour of forwarding the MZO request to the Province.
