The fate of a proposed refrigeration plant on Jones Baseline, east of Guelph, will be decided following a 12-day appeal hearing set to begin in February.
Currently based in Georgetown, Minus Forty wants to build an up to 264,000-square-foot facility just off Highway 7, at 5063 Jones Baseline, in order to relocate its operations.
Guelph/Eramosa Township council voted to rezone the property and cleared the way for that plan but a group of nearby residents known as “Jones Baseline Community Inc.” filed an appeal of that decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal.
Following a case management conference last month, the tribunal has set aside 12 for the appeal hearing, which is set to begin Feb. 13 and held virtually.
“The tribunal raised the issue of opportunities for settlement, including the use of tribunal-assisted mediation. The parties indicated that they may be interested in tribunal-assisted mediation but indicated that it was premature at this time,” states a tribunal document released after last month’s session.
Jillian Wood, a member of the appellant group, previously told GuelphToday the appeal is centred around two primary arguments:
First, because of the proposed plant's size, ability to generate noise that could be heard off-site, and plans for shift work, it should be classified as a "class two manufacturing facility at minimum" as opposed its current class one status, she said.
Changing this classification would result in bigger setback requirements, thereby reducing the size of the plant Minus Forty would be allowed to build at the site, perhaps to the point where the company might not be interested in locating there at all anymore, Wood explained.
Second, Jones Baseline Community Inc. contends that putting the plant at 5063 Jones Baseline constitutes "poor planning," Wood said.
While the land is designated as a "rural employment area" in the County of Wellington Official Plan meaning it it has been "set aside for industrial and limited commercial uses which would benefit from a rural location," according to county policy, Wood said that designation predates the establishment of a nearby hamlet.
