MNR RESPONDS TO RESIDENTS' LETTERS

Many residents have recently written to Virginia West, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources, demanding that public land on the site not be sold to the developer.  Here is the response coming from her office ....

May 20^th 2010

Thank you for your email regarding a proposed residential development at 51 Lakeshore Drive in Etobicoke adjacent to Lake Ontario. 

This is a municipal planning matter under the jurisdiction of the City of Toronto, and the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has no role in this process. 

This planning matter is currently subject to a hearing at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), and at the hearing, concerns were raised regarding the ownership of the land being considered for development. 

As the property in question is adjacent to Lake Ontario, of which the bed is considered Crown land, MNR as the adjacent landowner, became involved in determining the correct property boundary.   Ministry staff determined there is a small piece of filled Crown land situated in front of the proposed development property adjacent to the Lake Ontario shoreline, and have recommended a revised Crown/private land boundary for this property.

The landowner has accepted this revised property line along the lakeshore, and will use this boundary to confirm title of their property through the Land Titles Act process.

Once the landowner has confirmed land ownership, the OMB hearing can resume to address the planning matter regarding the residential development proposal of this property.  The Ministry of Natural Resources has no role in this process.

Should the landowner wish to purchase this filled Crown land in the future, they have the option of applying to my ministry to acquire it at fair market value.  The Ministry is not prepared to entertain an application for purchase of the filled Crown land at this time until all legal matters have been resolved.

Any potential disposition of Crown land would be subject to the Ministry’s Class Environmental Assessment for Resource Stewardship and Facility Development Projects, policies and procedures.  Through this process Ministry staff  would  consider the, social, ecological, and economic impacts prior to proceeding with  any potential sale of Crown Land.

Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention. 

 Virginia M. West 

Deputy Minister, Ministry of Natural Resources

The community understands that there is a process to all of this.  However, with the three year battle that the community has fought to protect larger public issues here, it should be a no-brainer to not sell the public portion on this site because of its "social" impact.  2011 is an election year and the Lakeshore community has a long memory.  It will directly impact their vote if the government has not protected our public access to the lakefront.