Upcoming Case Management Conference
The OLT has scheduled a virtual Case Management Conference (CMC) on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, at 10:00 am. A CMC is intended to deal with procedural matters relating to an appeal, including identification of parties and participants to a hearing, identification of issues, the possibility of a settlement or mediation, scheduling of a hearing and directions for filing evidence. Please note that the OLT may proceed to make a decision on the appeal at the conference, as further detailed in the notice.
For further information, please view the Notice. If you wish to be a party or participant in the hearing, please see the instructions in the notice. Completed forms requesting this (please refer to the links in the notice) must be received by the OLT at least 10 days in advance of the CMC.
Appeal of non-decision
Under the Planning Act, the applicant can appeal an application where no decision has been made by the Council within 120 days of submission of a complete application to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) for a hearing.
This means that the City will not conclude its planning report, and there will be no decision of the Council on this matter. The decision will be made by the OLT.
The City is now processing the appeal and preparing the appeal package in accordance with Section 34(23) and 22 (9) of the Planning Act which includes all relevant material received to be sent to the Ontario Land Tribunal by August 29th, 2024. As part of the appeal process, the City will be forwarding all public comments to the OLT as well as the contact information of all participants to date to assist the OLT in contacting interested persons who may want to participate in the Hearing.
For further information on the OLT and the process of participation, including becoming a participant or a party to such proceedings, please visit this link: https://olt.gov.on.ca/
History
The City received an Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment, for lands between Thorold Townline Road and Beechwood Road, on either side of the Uppers Lane Right of Way (see location map). No decisions for the proposed quarry have been made by City Council.
The applicant, Walker Aggregates Inc., requested the amendments to develop a quarry with associated processing and recycling of aggregate material, including asphalt and concrete, and a concrete or asphalt mixing plant on the lands.
The application submissions can be found on the City’s website. An application was made in December 2021. Further submissions, intended to address the agency, peer review and technical comments, were made in August 2023 and April, 2024.
In addition to the City applications, the following applications have been submitted:
- A Regional Official Plan Amendment to the Niagara Region under the Planning Act, and
- A Category 2 (Below Water Quarry) – Class A License to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) under the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA).
These are separate processes that require separate approvals.
No decisions have been made by City or Regional Council on the submitted Planning Act applications. The MNRF is the approval authority for the License under the ARA. No decisions have been made by the MNRF.
Various studies have been reviewed by independent peer-review experts retained by the Region and the City. Comments have been released and can be found in the Important Links & Documents section of this page. Final peer review reports can be found here.
A Joint Agency Review Team (JART), consisting of staff from the City, Region, and Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority as well as an aggregate expert, was formed. The JART does not make a recommendation on the application but rather undertakes a review of it, peer review, and agency comments and provides a technical report to the City and Region. The report and appendices can be found here.
The City has put together an information sheet to provide some information in response to several areas of concern that residents have identified.
PLANNING ACT MEETINGS
City of Niagara Falls & Niagara Region Open House | Questions & Responses
An Open House Question & Response document has been completed to answer questions not answered during the March 23, 2022, Open House presentation.
AGGREGATE RESOURCES ACT MEETINGS
Public Information Centre (PIC) | Hosted by Walker Aggregates Inc.
Walkers Aggregates Inc. ran a virtual public information session on March 1, 2023.
This meeting was held as part of the ARA permit process. This process is separate from the Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendments being considered by the Niagara Region and the City of Niagara Falls for the proposed quarry.
