Municipalities concerned with provincial “fast one”

The township of Huron-Kinloss agrees with a resolution put forward by the Municipality of Arran-Elderslie (A-E), which objects to the provincial liberals stripping municipalities of the right to decide not only setbacks, but where, when and how many wind farm companies can set up shop.

The subject of the province forcing turbines on to municipalities has been discussed on many occasions by council and again surfaced at the Feb 19 meeting in Ripley.

Section 24 of Bill 51, which the liberals recently passed, removes “energy undertakings” from the planning act, meaning wind turbines do not have to conform to municipal zoning by laws or official plans. Simply said, municipalities and ratepayers will have no part in the decision making when it comes to large turbine companies building large-scale operations in their area.

In a letter to municipalities, A-E mayor Ron Oswald brought to light several discrepancies with numerous press releases sent out by the liberals, boasting of “a new era in which local governments across Ontario have new powers.”

Oswald, says the new Bill does just the opposite.

In speaking of the election year press releases by the province, he says, “Unfortunately, while these statements were highly publicised, you quietly removed “energy” undertakings from the planning act, thereby reducing municipal powers, restricting local autonomy, eliminating local planning processes designed to respond to our citizen’s needs and eliminated accountability and transparency to our ratepayers. You have made the “energy” decisions for us.”

Huron-Kinloss council is in agreement with the A-E resolution.

Joan Albright, Clerk for Arran-Elderslie says that so far (as of Feb 23), she has received 26 letters from municipalities that were very supportive of the resolution. That number is quite significant considering that some may not have met to discuss the letter yet and many larger municipalities and regions can not formally support them, even if they are in favour. Those municipalities may feel the same way. “Many larger centres and regions have policies in place that they do not support resolutions in general,” she says.

Another thing making the response from municipalities substantial is that A-E was not even asking for support. “We sent the letter to municipalities not for support, but for their information. “Some municipalities did not know that these changes had been made. There’s not always time to look at every piece of legislation in that much detail,” she says.

“They are changing our landscapes. No one (provincially) has studied the effects, no one has done much of anything. It’s illogical. They may not meet the demand anyway and we’ll see turbine companies walking away, leaving the concrete and re-bar bases behind.”

Albright also wonders if some of the pressure to build these units in Bruce County is coming from areas that use massive amounts of power, but do not want turbines in their area, or are not suitable areas for them to work effectively due to lack of wind.

“The people in Toronto for example, use a lot of electricity due to the large population and for large companies, factories, etc. They say we as individuals need to conserve. There’s no way people can conserve enough to make up for electricity used by industry in large urban centres, so we need to produce more. They can’t build them (turbines) in downtown Toronto, so they are putting them here. They may build one token windmill so they can say they have them too, but the majority come to rural Ontario. Then those with cottages come here and complain (that there are going to be windmills near their cottage).”

Albright says that a copy of the letter was sent to Liberal MPP Carol Mitchell, but as of yet, no response has come from her or her office.

This is not the first time misgivings about the legislation have been brought to Mitchell.

Concerns with turbines were brought to Mitchell at a meeting with Huron-Kinloss council and senior staff on Feb 2. Council, along with other municipalities, are worried that local control of where and how many of the towering units can be built has been taken away, in favour of the province deciding what’s best for the municipality. Council also questioned her on why the property tax assessments were so low.

Deputy Mayor Wilf Gamble brought up the issue of the artificially low assessment values placed on wind turbines by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC). MPAC placed the value of the multimillion dollar units at $40,000-per-megawatt, or about $80,000-per-turbine. The low assessments mean the units are worth to the township roughly the same in property taxes as an upscale home.

“Did you want them to be lower?” asked Mitchell.

Gamble asked, “Three million to $40,000, how did you justify that number?”

“We had to come up with a number. The Minister of Finance will be looking into it. I’m not going to argue with you,” said Mitchell. “I supported that, but now I think that number has to be re-formatted.”

Chief building official Matt Farrell asked Mitchell, “Are windmills exempt from the planning act? We are concerned there will be no local control,” adding that there are other concerns.

“We have just as many municipalities wanting us to take control,” claimed Mitchell. I don’t see as you should be left out of the process, but I don’t want to see projects held up by a year.”

Councillor Don Murray said that residents were concerned that their property tax dollars are subsidising the large wind farm owners with the low assessments. He mentioned damage to area roads as one example of expenses they will have to shell out.

“I’d be careful with that type of language, because if they (large wind farm companies) aren’t there, you won’t get that money,” warned Mitchell. (READ MORE ABOUT MITCHELL’S MEETING WITH HURON-KINLOSS BY CLICKING HERE)

The Winds of Change are Changing our Landscape; The resolution in detail

Just what are municipalities supporting the resolution concerned with, besides having no control on the influx of industrial turbine companies? The Arran-Elderslie resolution, which Huron-Kinloss supports, states…

The Province of Ontario, in its Provincial Policy Statement 2005 (in an effort to increase the supply of electricity), has mandated that the use of renewable energy systems and alternative energy systems, where feasible.

The province says, alternative energy systems and renewable energy systems shall be permitted in settlement areas, rural areas and prime agricultural areas in accordance with provincial and federal requirements with impacts on agricultural operations in rural areas and prime agricultural areas to be minimized by appropriate design and construction methods.

'Provincial and federal requirements' are virtually non-existent with respect to the long-term effects of wind turbine farms and the subsequent restoration of the sites.

Section 24 of Bill 51 has amended the Planning Act , effective January 1, 2007, by the addition of section 62.0.1 which provides that: "(1) An undertaking or class of undertakings within the meaning of the Environmental Assessment Act that relates to energy is not subject to this Act or to…the City of Toronto Act, 2006" if it has been approved, ordered or declared under the Environmental Assessment Act; thereby eliminating all requirements for wind energy systems (turbines), once approved, ordered or declared, to conform to local municipal zoning by-laws and official plans.

The Province of Ontario is undertaking to clear all barriers, including local controls and decision-making processes, to ensure the addition of wind energy generation in the Province with no environmental assessment confirming that said generation is safe and effective in the long term.

The areas of dependable wind sources exist in less populated areas along shorelines which have fewer wind disruptions caused by vertical urban development.

The Counties of Bruce and Grey are a major component of the Province's 'Ontario—Yours to Discover' tourism promotion campaign with the Bruce Peninsula being a featured destination.

A search on the 'Ontario—Yours to Discover' website for 'wind turbines' resulted in the message: "Sorry, no matching search items were found" thereby confirming that wind turbines are not, in fact, a tourist attraction.

Many seasonal and year-round commercial enterprises and residents depend on our local 'tourism' trade for their livelihood.

Municipalities have, and continue to be approached by wind energy developers with signed land leases for the purpose of erecting wind turbines with the land owners having little, if any, information on the long-term effects, good or bad, of such turbines.

In 1994, Madam Justice McLachlin, of the Supreme Court of Canada made a strong case for supporting the legitimate role of municipal bodies in making decisions in the best interests of their communities, now known as the "McLachlin rule." She stated, “If municipalities are to be able to respond to the needs and wishes of their citizens, they must be given broad jurisdiction to make local decisions reflecting local values.”

In a 2005 ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada further stated that “It is well established that the Court adopts a "broad and purposive" approach to the construction of the powers of a municipality.”

George H. Rust-D'Eye, partner in the firm of Weir Foulds, Barristers & Solicitors, in the firm's Fall 2006 Municipal Law – Government Update, stated, "Local governments should be encouraged to “flex their municipal muscle” to achieve the results needed to serve the people who elected them and carry out their broad mandate that is now prescribed by legislation in most provinces. In assessing response to the challenges faced by municipalities, it is essential to factor in the legislation and the courts of today in creating solutions. Municipalities may have more latitude than they think in taking innovative approaches to problem-solving."

What are municipalities requesting?

With those facts being brought to light, municipalities supporting the resolution are asking the province…

1. To conduct an environmental assessment on all the issues involved with wind turbines in order to assure the public that the energy systems being freed from local planning processes are indeed good, safe, viable alternative sources of energy;

2. To conduct a study of the impact of wind turbines on local assessments and land values;

3. In the absence of local input into the siting and construction of wind farms, to develop guidelines and/or regulations for the standardization of wind farm developments in consultation with the people of Bruce and Grey Counties, in particular, and the Province of Ontario, in general;

4. To demonstrate that removing energy systems from the Planning Act is being done in good faith by permitting the construction of wind turbines in Provincial Parks in the Bruce Peninsula and in any other areas of the Province with sufficient winds;

5. To compensate those municipalities which have invested considerable time and money in processing wind turbine zoning applications, consulting the public, developing policies, hiring consultants, etc. which would become redundant;

6. To compensate those municipalities and tourist operators for loss of revenue, over time;

7. To ensure the restoration of lands whereon wind energy systems have been erected and ensure the removal of all concrete bases embedded with steel;

8. To consult with and keep municipalities apprised of the Province's intentions with respect to dramatic changes in local planning issues in advance of their being legislated and municipalities having wasted their time and money on addressing local issues which are ultimately removed from their spheres of jurisdiction;

9. In the absence of acting on the previous requests, to acknowledge and respect the jurisdiction and competence of local municipalities to make local decisions reflecting local values by leaving energy systems under the authority of the Planning Act.

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