For immediate release.
Oct 5th, 2012 – Hamilton ON – Hamilton Civic League volunteers conducted a door to door survey of 349 households within the Aerotropolis boundaries during the last week of August. The short survey was designed to gauge residents’ level of awareness of and support for the City approved plan to rezone thousands of acres of prime farmland surrounding the airport, for industrial purposes. Eighty-two percent (82%) of residents surveyed do not support the City’s plan. Sixty-six percent (66%) claimed to have received notification of the plan from the City but many had clearly confused recent Hamilton Civic League mailings as notice from the City.
The City of Hamilton claims there is a shortage of industrial lands, throughout the city, to support industrial
employment growth to the year 2031. Eighty-five percent (85%) of respondents disagree and believe we have plenty of available industrial lands. Surveyed residents control over 1325 acres of which ninety-one percent (91%) are owner occupied. Ownership/occupancy durations ranged from four days to over two-hundred years with the average occupancy duration being 28 years. During casual door-step conversations, most long-term residents cited concerns for the loss of their much desired, rural lifestyle.
The City refers to the rezoning project as the Airport Employment Growth District. The promise of future jobs and claims of increased City revenues through property taxation continue to drive the project forward. The fact that there is already an industrial zoned airport park which has remained 93% vacant and not attracted a single new tenant over the past 20 years has not deterred City Hall. The industrial rezoning is being challenged legally and comes before the Ontario Municipal Board again mid January 2013, during which time the survey results will be presented.
The Hamilton Civic League will now begin to focus on the City’s claim of a shortage of existing industrial lands. The Hamilton Civic League invites the general public to meet at the office of the City Clerk at the west end of the first floor of City Hall on Tuesday October 9th beginning at 9 AM at which time volunteers will begin searching 35,000 pages of tax assessment data to identify all industrial properties. The land mapping project will continue on subsequent days, during regular business hours until the project is complete. Volunteers are welcome to email HamiltonCivicLeague@gmail.com for additional information.
Hats off to Larry and everyone involved in this effort, both the HCL volunteers and those at the front of the endeavour, Don McLean and Mike Desnoyers, et al. As witnessed by this article, they've been labouring to do what they can to shine some light on a subject that has not been investigated nor discussed nor debated anywhere close to the extent it should have been. The HCL is doing what it can to overcome the inertia, the disinterest and the passive obfuscation present.
ReplyDeleteWhat's surprising to me is that other 'squeaky wheel' issues seem to get the grease, when this one has a far more pivotal role to play in how Hamilton looks in twenty-five years than they do. In fact, the lack of just about everything (involvement, readily-available information, debate) concerning AEGD issue is a great indicator of where we are in this city regarding governance process. I fear, in the end, despite all the HCL's efforts, we're going to see another non-leadership result; Hamilton not truly owning its future, with its leaders not leading anywhere proactively, spending their time managing instead.
Which is why I salute Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr's 'Casino Town Hall' at Council Chambers, Thursday October 11th from 7-10pm. Kudos to the Councillor and those involved in presenting this; a wonderful gesture towards increasing discussion, discourse and debate towards better governance for all. It's addressing an entirely different issue, and yet has as its foundation the same notion: getting people gathered in a room to talk about the changes they want -and don't want- to see in their city.
I agree that there hasnt been enuf attention on Aerotropolis. Good on HCL. I think your "super hero" Farr showed his true colours during the Serpt 6 Santucci delegation. There's no restoring his credibility any longer. He's done. He can have all the gathering he wants. When you attack a taxpayer shamelessly like that- YOU'RE DONE!
ReplyDeleteMr. Sarc
Btw- go here http://hamilton.siretechnologies.com/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=287&doctype=AGENDA if you'd like to see what Farr is like with an honest taxpayer who cared enuf for the city to come with a delegation. Listen to how he was treated by Farr, Partridge, Clark, Merulla and the rest of the sad GIC "crew"
DeleteProud yet?
Mr. Sarc
Whoa, whoa, whoa...
DeleteI focused entirely on the event mentioned when applauding the town hall effort. I was there at The Santucci Travesty, sitting right there in the cheap seats. So I'm more than familiar with the councillor's behaviour on that occasion...and others.
So please; if you're going to excoriate me for pointing up an opportunity for better civic engagement, please do us all a favour and not toss the baby out with the bath water, thankyouverymuch.
What I am finding particularly interesting about the Hamilton Waterfront Trust issue are a few things:
ReplyDelete1. If not for the Bay Observer, The Hamiltonian and CHML, the whole thing would have been glossed over. I was not impressed by The Spec's coverage or by CBC Hamilton's lack thereof.
2. It is a great example of how things really work behind the scenes. Councillors have shown their true colours in not responding to questions or in providing unhelpful "information" and in how they treated Gary Santucci and Mr. Bonham. They also have shown how they go out of their way to protect certain people.
3.If you believe some theories, it also points to how the mayor has been treated or rather, mis-treated by his "peers" (I use that word loosely to refer to the wannabe mayor lifers).
4. It shows that we need term limits and/or an informed and engaged citizenry.
In terms of Mr. Farr's open house/town hall casino thing- it has to be understood in the context of Mr. Farr's involvement and his actions as a councillor- for if we prop him up with kudos and adoration, we quickly excuse the wrongful way in which he and GIC treated Mr. Santucci which is symptomatic of something.....you can fill in the blanks.
So, don't get fooled by the tweets alerting us of what our social calendar could be, Demand honesty and integrity from our councillors. Not bullying and assaults on our intelligence. Anyone can host and attend a town hall. It's all window dressing. Dig deeper to cure the ails in Hamilton.
Term Limits Now
All,
ReplyDeleteLet's get the discussion back on track. As noted by Adrian, if permitted to proceed, the AEGD (Aerotropolis) will have an immense and profound negative impact on the City of Hamilton for generations to come. This is such a huge and complex issue it is only through community involvement and education can we hope to halt the momentum.
Michael Desnoyers
Co-Chair
Hamiltonians for Progressive Development
Michael:
ReplyDeleteTo this moment, I have not heard anyone explain why this whole Aerotropolis thing is a good idea. At the very least, it has to be stopped immediately until someone can prove it is good for Hamilton. I doubt that it is.
Sorce
Sorce:
ReplyDeleteThe city has put forth it's case to justify the need for this massive urban boundry expansion. The total "estimated" cost to service the proposed AEGD is $350 Million and that does not include the "estimated" $150 Million cost for the Wastewater trunk down to the Woodward avenue treatment facility. We are told that development charges (DC's) will pay for the servicing but to-date the track record of collecting full DC's without huge discounting has been dismal. The success of the proposed park has been connected directly to the airport but it's performance over the past 16 years has been less than stellar. As a community can we really afford the risk of $500 Million on the hope and prayer that "build it and they will come". The existing Aeropark has remained virtually empty for 20 years so can we trust that there is a line up to get into the new and expanded "Aerotropolis". This community needs to get engaged before it is too late!
Michael Desnoyers
Co-Chair
HPD
I guess what I was saying Michael is that, to date, I have not heard a val;id business case for Aerotropolis. It's about cost and ROI. I don't see the ROI for taxpayers of Hamilton either in dollar terms or in public interest terms. Which leads me to wonder what this is really all about.
DeleteSorce
Hats off to the Hamilton Civic League. Keeping the taxpayers informed and involved has been a huge problem for a very long time. I am sick and tired of the city imposing things on us just to make the developers more rich. Council needs to start listening and communicating clearly with the taxpayers before Hamilton becomes one big ugly factory and we all take our last gasp of polluted air. I applaud the efforts made by the Hamilton Civic League and encourage more to get involved.
ReplyDeleteBet
Sorce:
ReplyDeletePerhaps this report will assist you. It is the 74 page summary report submitted to council just days before the last election.
http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/062BB2B4-FD14-4755-A3DF-0DA297D3715E/0/PED10153aFSC10062aPW10080.pdf
If you do not read the approximate 2000 pages of backup documents, studies and reports you will only be getting a partial picture. This is an example of the complexity of this proposed AEGD and a major contributing reason why there is a lack of engagement.
What is truly lacking after almost 7 years of studies and several million dollars in consulting fees alone is any sort of worst case analysis. What if we build it and they don't come? Where is the risk mitigation and process that any sound business would practice if they did not have the endless source of capital in the taxpayer.
The city has committed $300,000 to battle this at the OMB and has essentially unlimited resources compared to the organizations who are not in favour of this (AEGD) moving forward. Without the help of the community in many ways we face an uphill battle but we are determined to ask the questions and uncover the facts.
M. Desnoyers
Co-Chair
HPD
Michael:
DeleteFor issues this far reaching, there is an onus on the city to properly explain the information, the ramifications, the risks, the justification. If they do that with a 200 plus page document a day before the last election, then that tells you right there that something is absolutely wrong with the process. I think we should stop this silliness now before it snowballs further.
Sorce
Here's my questions: Would The Hamiltonian consider asking the councillors representing the wards the survey drew from for their reactions to these findings?
ReplyDeleteFurther, might we know just how much consultation with affected residents has been done since the pivotal AEGD vote back in 2010, on the last work day before the election, as memory serves...?
Because again, I'm curious as to how much input 'local residents' have in the decisions affecting their Quality of Life.
Thank-you for the suggestion. We have contacted Clr. Johnson and will post her reply if we receive one.
DeleteThe Hamiltonian Admin
We Have been advised that Clr. Johnson will provide a response, as soon as she is able to do so. Hopefully soon.
DeleteHamiltonian Admin
http://civicleague.ca: "The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because it uses an invalid or unsupported form of compression."
ReplyDeleteBarrier to citizen engagement, just like meetings announced within 24 hours of start time. Respect the intention, HCL folks, but the follow-through could be better.