Earlier today (Friday 20 January 2023) Doug Ford said he was confident no developers had been tipped off about the changes to the Greenbelt which would allow building on land that was out of bounds to developers. 

They were.

On Friday 4 November 2022, the Minister for Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Clark, announced that 15 areas of land totalling approximately 7,400 acres were to be removed from the Greenbelt. 

This was the first time the Government indicated that this land would be taken from the Greenbelt for development.

And yet on Tuesday 1 November 2022 – three clear days before the new Greenbelt policy was publicly unveiled – a representative of the Rice Group told the Mayor of King, Steve Pellegrini, that some of their soon to be redesignated Greenbelt lands in King (west of Bathurst and south of Miller's Side Road) would be made available to Southlake Hospital “for a nominal fee”.

The Rice Group purchased 687 acres of Greenbelt land for $80M in September 2022. (see right)

On 7 November 2022, Steve Pellegrini tabled a motion saying King supported a new hospital on the (soon to be) former Greenbelt lands and that:

“the landowner is committed to providing the necessary lands for the Southlake Regional Health centre site for a nominal fee.”

In December 2022 I lodged a Freedom of Information request with the Township asking what form that commitment took and to whom it was conveyed. (See below) The Town tells me:

“The commitment of a nominal fee for the hospital lands was conveyed verbally to Mayor Pellegrini during an in-person meeting with Rice Group and Southlake Representatives on November 1, 2022.”

When did the Rice Group first realize their Greenbelt land could be developed?

This begs a number of questions. When did the Rice Group first realise the Greenbelt land it purchased a few months earlier could be developed? When did the Rice Group first approach Southlake offering some of the land for a nominal fee and what precisely was said? Did Southlake not raise questions about the land being in the Greenbelt? And how did the Rice Group respond to that?

Steve Pellegrini told the ERA newspaper yesterday that King was doing nothing nefarious by asking the Province to fast track its land for a new hospital. Clearly, he was assuming the sale or gift of the land for a nominal fee would go through.

Pellegrini told the ERA:

The Township had worked with a previous owner looking to develop the land but couldn’t because it was in the Greenbelt.

The landowner died a few years ago and the family sold the land to the Rice Group. The sale closed a couple of weeks before it was pulled from the Greenbelt. 

When without warning the province pulled the King land out of the Greenbelt, council capitalised on it by saying “at least give us a hospital”.”

Did Pellegrini tell the Rice Group at the in-person meeting on 1 November that the hospital was a non-starter because the proposed site was in the Greenbelt? And if he did say that how did the Rice Group respond?

The Integrity Commissioner and the Auditor General will be interested in the answers.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Motion carried by King's Committee of the Whole on 7 November 2022:

8. NEW BUSINESS 

C.O.W. #8 

Bill 23 – ‘More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022’ Re: New Southlake Regional Health Centre 

Mayor Pellegrini put forth the following Motion, seconded by Councillor Cober, for consideration and support: 

“WHEREAS the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing introduced Bill 23 titled “More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022” on October 25, 2022, the intent of which is to streamline the development approval process to expedite the delivery of housing to the market; 

AND WHEREAS on November 4, 2022 the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and
Housing proposed changes to the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, 2001 and posted its intentions on the Environmental Registry of Ontario as number 019-6218; 

AND WHEREAS on November 4, 2022 the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and
Housing proposed changes to the Greenbelt Area boundary regulation and posted its intentions 

on the Environmental Registry of Ontario as number 019-6217; 

AND WHEREAS the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has identified “Land located in the Township of King east of Dufferin Street, south of Miller’s Sideroad and west of Bathurst Street” and illustrated those lands on Map 1 of the registry posting; 

AND WHEREAS the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is proposing no changes to the portion of those lands that contain Oak Ridges Moraine Natural Core Area; 

AND WHEREAS the noted lands are considered to be an ideal candidate site for the new Southlake Regional Health Centre site; 

AND WHEREAS the lands satisfy our understanding of the locational criteria for the new Southlake Regional Health Centre site; 

AND WHEREAS the landowner is committed to providing the necessary lands for the Southlake Regional Health Centre site for a nominal fee; 

AND WHEREAS it is also proposed that a portion of lands in the Oak Ridges Moraine be redesignated to “Settlement Area”; 

AND WHEREAS based on our understanding of the locational criteria for the new hospital, the area designated as “Settlement Area” is not required; 

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Council of the Township of King: 

- 7 - C.O.W. Minutes – November 7, 2022 

  1. Supports the location of the new Southlake Regional Health Centre site on these lands; and 
  2. Formally requests the Province of Ontario to fast track to approval of the new Southlake Regional Health Centre site on these lands; and 
  3. Does not support the proposed redesignation of a portion of the Oak Ridges Moraine to “Settlement Area”; and 
  4. Directs staff to work with the landowner, Province, and Southlake Regional Health Centre to expedite development approvals for these lands; and 
  5. Directs the Clerk to forward a copy of this resolution to the Minister of Municipal Affairs 

and Housing, the Minister of Health, and to the President and CEO of Southlake Regional Health Centre.” 

Motion Carried Unanimously.