Three development firms want to see roughly half the undeveloped land on Veterans’ Way south of the site of Humber College’s Orangeville campus — now set aside for “employment” purposes — used instead for new residential subdivisions.

The land in question is currently designated as an “employment area” in Orangeville’s official plan and zoned Development (D) in the town’s zoning bylaw.

Mono Developments Limited, Cook Farm Group and Transmetro Properties Limited have proposed Council amend the official plan to allow the land east of Veteran’s Way, west of Courtney Crescent, Pheasant Drive and Court, south of the proposed Humber campus and north of a currently unused portion of the OrangevilleBrampton Railway to be approximately divided in half; half as residential and half as employment land.

They’re proposing to re-designate the easterly portion to accommodate between 350 and 400 residential units, parkland, storm water management facilities and roads. The westerly and northerly portions would be maintained for employment uses, which would be subject to new policies related to the types and phasing that would be allowed.

Town planning director James Stiver said the public meeting Monday evening was not a statutory requirement under the Planning Act and was held to receive public input before council made a decision on the proposal.

David Fay, planning consultant for the three owners, said they recognize a change of circumstance with the announcement of Humber College but that servicing could go to Humber through the residential property with little expense to the municipality.

Mr. Fay also stated the owner’s experts advised the plan was not well suited for funding and that the planning and economics are not ideal for escrow.

He added that Hemson Consultants (for the Town) were less than enthusiastic for the land to be used for employment and not viable at the present time as it would cost $25,000 per acre to proceed with development.

Mr. Fay stated the owners recognize residential development is necessary in order for the “employment area” to be developed.

He said developing a residential area on the land would be an advantage to the employment land because it would be fully serviced through the residential area, which would make the land available. He added that the residential area would be a benefit to Humber College.

Mr. Fay said the owners’ experts think the land should be zoned residential as it is not ideal for industrial employment uses, but the combination of the two would have the municipality and the owners both gain from the proposal.

Councillor Rob Strang asked Mr. Fay if the land was unsuitable for all employment uses or just large industrial.

Mr. Fay said the report, done three years ago by the owners’ expert, which presented criteria for a successful industrial park, didn’t focus specifically on large industrial.

When talking about the land in question, the report said topographically the land does not lend itself to industrial development and the access to it is less than desirable and the visibility is hidden from Broadway by the railway roadbed.

These items and others led the expert to think the land was not viable. One of the most important was the proximity to residential development, said Mr. Fay.

Councillor Strang called Mr. Fay on the size of the of the land.

“You mention the site was not large enough and yet the proposal cuts it in half and also the proximity to residential to the industrial, you’re bringing it much closer to the industrial area.“

He then asked how the proposal would over come those conditions.

Mr. Fay responded that Mr. Stiver’s report states that there will be careful selection of uses that would be closest to the residential area.

“You have the ability to plan from the start,” said Mr. Fay.

Councillor Strang asked what the Ministry of Energy’s separation guidelines are.

The minimum is 20 metres said Mr. Fay and he added the maximum could go up to 70 metres. The separation reflects the class of industry he said.

When asked if that was the maximum, Mr. Fay said the area of influence could be up to 300 metres.

He said council should carefully determine the uses and said the most obnoxious may not be used at all. They could choose industries that wouldn’t require a 300 metre separation.

Mayor Drew Brown asked if Mr. Stiver could include examples of the type of industries that would require a 300 metre distance in the report.

Councillor Doug Wilcox said he also had concerns with the separation distance because there are residents who back on to industrial land and they have complaints. When the site plan comes back to council he would like it to have a good separation distance.

Mr. Fay responded that the owners were not interested in generating any land use problems.

Of the many residents who filled the council chambers gallery, two spoke in support of the proposal, stating Orangeville should be a leader in building sustainable, energy-efficient housing, which would help increase tourism.

Opponents of the proposed amendment were mainly concerned with the water and sewage capacity, the need for more employment in town and having to commute for work outside of town, and wondered how designating a portion of the land residential would help Humber College.

Angelina May said the number one issue is water and sewage capacity. “Do we have enough capacity to deal with that?” She also wanted to know when the issue would be addressed.

Mr. Stiver said it would be dealt with in the final report, which will look at how to deal with it over time.

Kevin Bowden stated a lot of time has been spent building new developments and wondered how many people left the town every day to work elsewhere. He said policing is easier if there are more people around.

He said the town should look at bringing in industries that would sustain the town.

Mayor Brown asked Mr. Stiver if he also could include in the report the number of people who leave town and where they were travelling to and for what kind of work.

Doug Ford is a commuter and has been all his life he said. He leaves at 5 a.m. daily and thought he’d be the only “idiot on the road” that early in the morning.

“You wouldn’t believe the amount of traffic,” he said.

Mr. Ford would like to see the lands used to build companies so he and his children could have a job in town.

“We don’t need any more housing and people commuting to Brampton,” he said.

Mr. Ford also stated that if more industrial development occurred in the town it would lower property taxes and residential development would only raise it.

Councillor Strang thought this was a good point and asked Mr. Stiver to include information on it in his report.

Ms. May said she didn’t understand how the proposed residential area would help Humber College as it is farther from the college campus than the industrial portion. The only thing that would help would be student residences.

Echoing her concerns, Shawn White thought it would cause more policing problems if students would have to walk through the industrial land at night.

Councillor Ken Manwell said he believes Humber will be including residences in their plans.

Mayor Brown said the college had mentioned it, it’s just a question of time.

Reading information from a report on strategic planning done in March 2003 by Price Waterhouse Coopers regarding the the property in question, Councillor Warren Maycock said, “The southern half of the area has topographical quarters of areas similar to that of the existing Orangeville Business Park and should be protected for industrial uses, given the town’s current supply of industrial lands.”

Stating there was significant evidence in the past from various reports, Councillor Maycock said the property should be left as employment land because it would be premature to zone it residential at this point.

In response, Mr. Fay stated successful industrial parks have highway access, the property needs to be at least 200 acres to provide variety, it needs to be flat and well drained and needs high visibility for marketing, which the property isn’t, he said, and it needs to be isolated from residential areas.

Councillor Maycock responded that it was ironic the part of the property the proponents have decided to keep residential is the flattest part, while the industrial area is the roughest.

A motion was passed to receive all comments from the evening and Mr. Stiver will be preparing a report for council to address the concerns.