Developer gets OK for new industrial park

10/22/2004

MICHAEL-ALLAN MARION
EXPOSITOR STAFF / BRANTFORD


Developer King and Benton has a green light to procedd with its plan to establish Oak Park North, a privately owned 450-acre industrial park on the city's northwest outskirts.

Council has given conditional approval to applications from King and Benton Development Corp. for official plan and zoning bylaw amendments that set the stage for the company to create its business park out of three parcels of land: 120 acres on the west side of Oak Park Road, north of Highway 403, 303 acres on the east side, and about 20 acres on the Brant county side which are subject to a separate agreement.

ALMOST OUT OF LAND

The park lies between the municipally developed Northwest Business Park, which is almost out of land, and an industrial area on the country side. Together, all sections will create a large industrial area spanning both municipalities.

Together, all sections will create a large development corridor spanning both municipalities.

The city will extend an oversized watermain being build through its north-west park to Oak Park North lands to supply services, with King and Benton paying some of the cost.

The approvals come with a list of 26 conditions, dealing largely with regulatory hurdles the company must clear with the Ontario ministries of environment, natural resources and municipal affairs, and the Grand River Conservation Authority.

The land, an exhausted aggregate quarry area, has some significant environmentally sensitive features including and aquifer system and a perched fen - a delicate wetland left by a receding glacier in the last age.

SOME CONCERNS

The environmental watchdog organization Northwest Gateway Committe has expressed its concern that future development reflect the need to protect those environmental features.

Coun. Greg Martin, chairman fo the community development committee, praised the project for making more industrial land available to maintain the city's srong development pace.

"We're almost out of land,"he said for the city's industrial parks."It's nice to see the private sector stepping up with this initiative."

With the vast majority of serviced industrial land now in private sector hands, Steve Charest, president of King and Benton, believes the city's role in development will change.

CHANGING ROLE

Traditionally, the city acquired property for a park, serviced it, and then had the economic development department market and sell it.

The role of the economic development department, he believes, will shift to being a facilitator fostering a more amenable investment environment and a partner in marketing.

"I think the city needs to recognize it will continue to play an important role, even though we own land, it will just be different," said Charest.