March 17, 2016 · 0 Comments
Mulmur Township Councillor Janet Horner, who last December became a member of the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC), gave Dufferin County Council an update last Thursday on the commission and its involvement in a planning review under way in her township.
Her compelling narrative regarding the NEC and its purpose in Dufferin County included a brief history and a few facts, among them that the Escarpment is actually 725 kilometres long and that fully 10 per cent of the distance is in Dufferin, as it crosses through parts of Mono, Mulmur and Melancthon.
She said the Niagara Escarpment Plan was created and implemented by the NEC to help maintain the land’s continuous natural environment. The NEC’s mandate is to prevail over local municipal bylaws where there is a direct conflict regarding what is best for the escarpment. This can at times put the NEC in a difficult position, especially given the many uses of the area, among them natural areas, rural, recreation, urban, and resource extraction.
She acknowledged that in many instances people are intimidated by the NEC or simply view the commission as a body that simply enforces restrictions. Ms. Horner made the point that the NEC is there to help, not to be viewed simply as a roadblock.
Advising councillors that Mulmur is currently hosting a coordinated provincial plan review, she said the township is concerned about zoning changes the NEC may be implementing in its part of the county, and in particular about having portions of the township reclassified as “protected natural.” If this occurred, residents would be eligible for tax credits which would hurt the Mulmur treasury by an estimated $600,000.
She said the hope is that the NEC and the Ministry of Natural Resources will work with the township to find a solution that does not erode the tax base.
Of note, she advised that the NEC is currently looking to fill one of its vacant board member positions with a member of the public. Anyone who had further questions regarding the NEC or the zoning situation in Mulmur was encouraged to contact her directly at jhorner@mulmur.ca.
She said recommendations from the NEC and resolution of the zoning issue are not anticipated until late spring.
In addition to her current four-year terms on the NEC and Mulmur Council, Ms. Horner is a prominent farm leader. She is the executive director of the Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance and Greater Toronto Area Agricultural Action Committee, is a consultant with Whitfield Consultants, a leadership, fundraising, communications firm, and has been a founding board member and chair of the Rural Ontario Institute, a steering committee member and board chair of Sustain Ontario and member of Headwaters Food and Farming Alliance and Toronto Food Policy Council.