GuelphToday has received the following letter from Ed and Dianne Kennedy who are concerned about environmental, social and traffic implications of the Xinyi Glass Company proposed glass factory.
It is 2018, where urban planning has been studied, discussed and enacted over decades. Good urban planning should prevail in Ontario where we pride ourselves on being good stewards of our non-renewable resources and making sound decisions that will benefit the environment and local residents. Sadly, it would appear that good planning practices appear not to exist or are being ignored completely in the Township of Guelph-Eramosa.
Xinyi Glass Company has made a proposal to the GET (Guelph Eramosa Township) where it plans to build a 2 million sq ft float glass manufacturing facility on 121.19 acres of land near the intersection of Wellington Roads 32 and 124.
Currently, some of the zoning by-law amendments that Xinyi is asking for include:
- To permit accessory dwelling units (50 units) for company and temporary foreign employees
- To increase the building height from 49.2 ft to 72.2 ft for all buildings
- To reduce the required setback from Wellington Rd 32 from 73.8 ft to 34.8 ft
- To increase the maximum Building size from 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the lot area.
It is not the Industrial use that I, and most people in the immediate area, are against as the site is zoned M1 (dry industrial), it is the absence of any good planning and common sense that the Township and the County of Wellington officials are showing.
The Facts are:
- The proposed Xinyi plant alone will be 2/3’s the size of the Toyota Plant in Cambridge which is 3 million sq ft on 400 acres, a building coverage of 17 per cent; Xinyi is proposing a 50 per cent building coverage for their facility and will be the largest in the County
- The building will have exterior walls that are 72.2 ft (7 storeys) in height while most industrial buildings in the area have walls that range in height from 18 to 24 ft
- The plant will have a Residential use (50 units)
- The plant will be pumping some 1.6 million litres of water a day from the aquifer on which farms and residential dwellings with private wells in the area all draw upon; despite the fact that zoning for this proposed site is M1 which permits dry industrial uses that do not use a significant amount of water
- The location at Wellington Road 32 and 124 is already very congested with traffic between Cambridge, Guelph and Kitchener. In fact MTO studies indicated that Wellington Road 124 was already over congested in 2005; Xinyi’s production will add an additional 100 trucks daily on these same roads
- Reportedly some 100 to 400 jobs will be created??? Information on the actual number, and types of jobs available is very vague as is much of the planning information on this project
- To date there has been only one public meeting held for the benefit of immediate residents while any information from the GET has been limited and difficult to access
- Xinyi Glass will reportedly be given tax breaks for the next 10 years
In summary, the Xinyi Glass Plant is an industrial development on steroids that is clearly too large for the current site and will be set in an existing corn field in a rural area where water usage has already been identified as being at significant risk, traffic congestion has been an ongoing issue for the past decade and the economic benefits of the development are vague and at best questionable.
In order to sanction this proposal and their requested amendments, our Township and County officials will need to overlook all the above and placate us with the assurance that this development is “good” planning and good for Ontario. But I ask you, is it or is this a complete “sellout” of the rural character of the area and its resources.
If any of your readers agree with my concerns, they should be sure to appear at the May 9 GET Council Meeting at the Marden Community Centre where these amendments will be voted on by our elected Officials.
With Concern,
Ed and Dianne Kennedy
