The Sault Ste. Marie Region Conservation Authority (SSMRCA) now faces legal action over the Conservation Authority Board’s approval of the proposed Pointe Estates subdivision development.
Sault Ste. Marie lawyer Helen Scott handed legal documents to Conservation Board Chair Brian Watkins at Tuesday’s Board meeting.
Scott represents the Pointes Protection Association, a group of concerned residents who live near the proposed Pointe Estates development area.
Approximately 20 people, comprised of Pointes Protection Association members and other members of the public, crammed the Conservation Authority Board’s office to attend Tuesday’s meeting.
Watkins did not allow Scott or members of the Pointes Protection Association to address the Board at Tuesday’s meeting, stating the Pointe Estates matter was not on the meeting’s agenda.
“For one reason or another the Board doesn’t want this association, or myself as their legal representative, speaking at their public meetings,” Scott told SooToday.com.
Watkins told reporters he had no comment after the meeting concluded.
A motion by Board member Frank Manzo at Tuesday’s meeting to rescind the Board’s December 13, 2012 vote, which approved sending the Pointe Estates development matter to City Council for further consideration, was not allowed to be tabled by Watkins.
Board member Ken Lamming has also repeatedly claimed that the December 13, 2012 vote cannot be rescinded before a 12-month period has passed.
Opponents have questioned that claim.
Scott told us “my understanding is that’s not accurate in terms of rescinding the decision.”
The Conservation Authority Board voted December 13, 2012, in a 3-2 recorded vote, in favour of forwarding the Pointe Estates development to City Council for further consideration.
That vote came in spite of considerable opposition, based on environmental concerns voiced by residents who live near the proposed Pointe Estates subdivision, environmental experts, and Conservation Authority staff.
Opponents say the development would harm the quality and quantity of the water for residents who live adjacent to the proposed Pointe Estates development area.
Voting in favour of the Point Estates development at the December 13, 2012 meeting were then-Board Chair Ken Lamming, Brian Watkins and then-Board member Ozzie Grandinetti. Board members Frank Manzo and Marchy Bruni voted against.
Scott told SooToday.com the purpose of the legal action is "to review the resolutions that were passed December 13, 2012 to permit this development and the the evidence that was submitted in support of that application".
“Our argument is that the evidence that was submitted in favour of the development (environmental tests done on behalf of Pointe Estates developer Jeff Avery) was not sufficient.”
Scott continued “(The Board) is supposed to ensure certain things will not be negatively impacted. They didn’t do that. Conservation Authority staff had a lot of concerns that have not been addressed.”
Scott pointed to an independent 540-page report prepared for the Conservation Authority by Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan-based hydro geologist Frank Breen, which expressed environmental concerns about the proposed development.
“Frank Breen did a lengthy independent technical opinion, which raised substantial concerns that have not been addressed,” Scott said.
The legal papers filed in court by Scott in Sault Ste. Marie Tuesday, copies of which were given by Scott to Watkins, state the Conservation Authority Board’s Resolutions #103/12 and #104/12 on December 13, 2012 “are illegal and invalid,” running contrary to the Conservation Authorities Act, and Sault Ste. Marie Region Conservation Authority: Regulation of Development, Interference with Wetlands and Alterations to Shorelines and Watercourses, as amended under the Conservation Authorities Act.
The documents state that the Board “exceeded its jurisdiction by passing Resolution #103/12 and Resolution #104/12 with no reasonable evidence to support its decision.”
Scott told us she will be contacting all parties involved in the matter, including the developer, City staff and the Conservation Authority, insisting “a decision (regarding the development) be made on sound science.”
The controversial discussions regarding Point Estates also continue to be mired in confusion on the part of Conservation Board members in regards to legalities.
Board members Brian Watkins, Ken Lamming, Marchy Bruni and Joe Krmpotich approved a motion Tuesday for the Board to seek independent legal counsel as to proper procedure in dealing with Board matters.
Frank Manzo abstained.
“I think they need legal counsel,” Scott told us.
“They should have sought that three months ago.”
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