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Developer extremely disappointed in OMB. Slams city (updated)

The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) has ruled against an appeal to develop the Pointe Estates subdivision, in Sault Ste. Marie's far west end. The proposed development was the long-cherished vision of Sault developers Jeff Avery and Dr.

The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) has ruled against an appeal to develop the Pointe Estates subdivision, in Sault Ste. Marie's far west end.

The proposed development was the long-cherished vision of Sault developers Jeff Avery and Dr. Patricia Avery.

"I'm extremely disappointed," Jeff Avery told SooToday Monday.

"I don't understand it.  Why do you hire experts to do the studies, to do all the work and they're not considered, I don't understand their system."

"To be quite frank, to invest in Sault Ste. Marie or anywhere close to it, you might as well take your money and run," Avery said.

"You might as well be like everybody else and invest elsewhere because it's not a friendly community, it's not a friendly area to develop."

"In hindsight I should never have done it," said Avery, who has purchased parcels of land in the Pointe Estates area since the 1980s and spent a decade attempting to get the green light for development.

"In other communities they roll out the welcome mat, they give you tax breaks…I have no qualms with our city planning department, they were fine, but to deal with the city councillors, the NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard residents) and all the rest of it, it isn't worth it," Avery said.

"My advice to anybody who ever comes to Sault Ste. Marie to develop is 'turn around and go back,'" Avery said.

The proposed development, as envisioned by Jeff Avery and Dr. Patricia Avery, would have consisted of a 91-lot single detached rural estate subdivision south of Pointe Aux Pins Drive, west of Dalgleish Road, north of Alagash Drive and Pointe Louise Drive.

The plan included a man-made canal connected to the St. Marys River, with dock facilities for boat-owning residents and a boat storage area. 

The Pointe Estates development area is 102 hectares (252 acres) in size.

The 44-page report containing the OMB decision, dated February 27, 2015, (but only posted on the OMB website Monday) states the development application "is not consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (of 2014, regarding the protection of coastal wetlands)…and the proposed development application in its entirety does not represent good planning.   Thus the Board dismisses the appeals in their entirety."

The report states "the proposed development is not in the public interest as it relates to the loss of coastal wetland…(and) the suitability of the lands for which it is proposed to be subdivided is not appropriate."

The OMB ruling comes after 20 studies were carried out by the developer over several years in an attempt to ensure no environmental damage would be caused by the development, as well as the city planner's recommendation for city council to approve Pointe Estates.   

The appeal, from Jeff Avery and Dr. Patricia Avery, was heard in Sault Ste. Marie by the OMB's Blair Taylor November 18, 2014 to December 5, 2014.

Evidence from numerous studies, for and against the development, were presented.

The Avery appeal was in response to a July 2013 city council decision to reject city staff's recommendation to go ahead with the proposed development, based on environmental concerns put forward by opponents of the development.

The Averys were represented at the OMB hearing by Sault lawyer Orlando Rosa.

Defenders of the original city council decision, composed mainly of a group of environmentally-concerned residents of Pointe Louise Drive known collectively as the Pointes Protection Association (PPA) were represented by Sault lawyer Helen Scott.

Klaas Oswald, a member of the St. Marys River Bi-National Public Advisory Council, an environmentalist group, also attended the three-week hearing in a self-represented capacity.  

The PPA and its president, Peter Gagnon, Oswald and other opponents maintained from the start Pointe Estates would cause damage to the quantity and quality of the area's wetlands.

"We've been at this for eight years and we presented what we consider to be the science, the facts about this development…it's contrary to any protection of wetlands, it's not 'not in our back yard,' we said 'these are the facts' and somebody (the OMB) finally recognized what we were saying was true," Gagnon said, speaking to SooToday.

"My wife and I, if the decision had gone the other way, we were ready to move because we would have said the laws of Ontario wouldn't have meant anything, but the laws of Ontario do mean something, and we're going to stay."

"People were told wetlands in Northern Ontario mean something, they're to be protected, so don't start dividing them up and paving them over, because that's not what we're about in Ontario," Gagnon said.   

Orlando Rosa, lawyer for the Averys, was not available for comment Monday, but Jeff Avery and Paul Cassan, another member of the Avery legal team, confirmed the legal team will be examining the OMB ruling for grounds for another appeal. 

An artist's rendering of the proposed Pointe Estates development is pictured above.

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Previous SooToday coverage of this story:

Awaiting a decision

Council gives thumbs down to Pointe Estates

(PHOTO: An artist's rendering of the proposed Pointe Estates development is pictured above)

 


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Darren Taylor

About the Author: Darren Taylor

Darren Taylor is a news reporter and photographer in Sault Ste Marie. He regularly covers community events, political announcements and numerous board meetings. With a background in broadcast journalism, Darren has worked in the media since 1996.
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