in Chatsworth, Grey Highlands, Southgate, West Grey
December 16, 2024
Residents of the Beaver Valley packed Kimberley Hall on Saturday, December 7 to listen to Escarpment Corridor Alliance development concerns.
BY KATE RUSSELL — It seems there is still plenty of concern about the potential for development of both a residential subdivision and a huge spa complex at the former Talisman ski club and golf course property on County Road 7 just north of Kimberley.
During an Escarpment Corridor Alliance (ECA) update to the community recently, over 100 people gathered to hear how the developments are progressing.
The subdivision proposal is still with Grey County. It has been reviewed by agencies and the county awaits responses from the Beaver Valley Development Group to multiple concerns expressed, including a position taken by the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC) staff suggesting the development is not appropriate as it is not adjacent to a primary recreational use.
“If it goes through, they will break the backbone of the escarpment,” ECA board member David Scoon told the crowd at Kimberley Hall. Located in Beaver Valley, Scoon noted the area proposed for a subdivision, with upwards of 370 homes predicted, is the habitat for 47 species at risk as the area has the “highest proportion of biodiversity anywhere in the province.”
The ECA was created to protect Southern Georgian Bay’s Niagara Escarpment, a celebrated UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, from mega development by establishing a connected and permanently protected ecological corridor for nature and for future generations.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said attendee Jeff Black, when someone asked why the ECA is taking a science-first approach with studies, while hiring engineers and lawyers in preparing to oppose development. ECA Executive Director Jarvis Strong put it simply. “Nature around us doesn’t have a voice, neither do the children. If we don’t do it now, it will be too late.”
Aside from the natural environment concerns, the costs of roads, bridges, water and sewage services as well as fire protection and other municipal expenses will be in the tens of millions for a municipality with an annual capital budget of $6 million.
“I for one don’t want to be subsidizing a development,” said ECA board member Stephen Griggs, who outlined cost estimates for necessities like upgrading a sewage lagoon that already endangers the Beaver River for upwards of $26 million or rebuilding Road 7A, that is currently only open part of the year. “Why should we spend $6 million on a road for the benefit of development?”
There was no one on hand to speak from the developer’s perspective. It was noted after initial community engagement about the subdivision and a public meeting held by the county and municipality to allow for public input no longer mandated by the province, there has been no further communication from the developers.
Not so for the owner of the former resort, who was in the room to hear more details on his new mega-spa proposal for the former resort on the property. Offered as a way to bring back the former ski resort’s hotel, the ECA sees Talisman Mountain Springs Inn as much too large for the valley, saying it will present its own issues to the environment.
“To their credit, they hired good architects and sought the least impact,” local resident Alex Speigel, himself an urban development professional and architect, said in his presentation of the spa concept. “They did an admirable job, but the premise is just wrong. The scale is still there and it is massive.”
The proposal is before the municipality for a zoning amendment, to allow for larger facilities, including 800 residential units to be sold as condos and run like a hotel and 900 parking spaces “buried” into the hill under green roofs. This, again, not adjacent to a primary recreational use as required by the Niagara Escarpment Plan (NEP).
“I don’t see how the municipality has the legal authority to change zoning,” offered ECA co-founder Stephen Griggs, a lawyer by background, in his comments. He echoed concerns in the room about the size and scale of development in the area. “It’s the principle. If they can change the law so they can build something, then it’s setting a precedent we are focussed on. Its important to preserve the principles of the Niagara Escarpment Plan.”
Essentially, the NEP states if you don’t have adjacent primary recreation, you can only build one house. The NEP supersedes other bylaws, official plans and the planning act. Griggs believes there is strong support for the original Niagara Escarpment protections from local MPPs and the Ministry of Natural Resources. The current political climate has Premiere Doug Ford under scrutiny for the Greenbelt scandal and his “spa” concept at Ontario Place on the Toronto waterfront.
Despite these concerns, Talisman Mountain Springs Inn owner Brian Ellis seems confident his concept will be approved.
“This area is perfect for what we want to do, because its in the escarpment for the biosphere,” he said in a telephone interview after the meeting, which he offered he attended to listen as a local resident and landowner. “Beaver Valley is a masterpiece, it’s perfect for health and wellness. We’re trying to do it all in one spot. Contain it to leave the rest for nature and exploration.”
Ellis suggests his expansion of the former Talisman resort is different from the residential subdivision proposed as he is only claiming a zoning amendment because of the height of the buildings, which it was outlined in the public meeting would be eight stories.
“We’re an area that’s going to be developed one way or another,” he insisted, adding he has done a lot of work on the proposal, which he says will not add to local traffic because people will come to the spa and stay for a few days. Other than a few locals on day trips, clients will park and stay.
“I’ve listened a lot to the local community,” Ellis said, suggesting most responses to his spa concept are extremely positive. “They want to see it as a hub. But some people just don’t want to see development on the Niagara Escarpment.”
He said he’s been approached by people who want to bring extreme sports to the area, which he thinks would not benefit the community. The decision on the scale of his proposed operation is “100 per cent economic reasons” he said, suggesting earlier concepts for a much smaller spa and hotel just was not good enough.
“We’re not going to bring people to a mediocre spa,” he said, suggesting the health and wellness industry is one of the fastest growing in the world. He plans to take advantage of that trend, saying his business will employ 400 people in hotel management, maintenance and cleaning, administration and marketing as well as food services alongside some 80 full time and part time health and wellness consultants. “A lot of our therapists will come from out of the area. We’re head and shoulders above everyone else.”
Ellis said the “hotel” will have 100 to 125 units reserved for use by employees and visiting consultants. Lots of his employees could be local or soon-to-be local, he said, as well as drawn from other areas of Grey County.
“Environmental groups all talk about sustainable development,” he said, suggesting criteria for that is not affecting the views or the integrity of a place. He thinks the green roofs on his buildings will suit that purpose. “We’ve gone to a great deal of expense to work as best as possible for the environment within the existing footprint.”
As for the large spa pools his concept calls for, he said they will be run like any other pool, with chemicals and recirculated water. He is familiar, he said, with diversion drains to control the underground karst water and snowmelt which damaged the original buildings.
“We’ve dealt with that,” he said. A large stormwater pond off 7A, which has a stream system with culverts and drains into the wetland and Beaver River, is currently in place. Ellis offered that his engineers tell him, “you’ve got to treat it like you’re at war with water, so it doesn’t destroy what you built.”
For now, Ellis awaits the comments from the agencies being circulated on his proposal. Readers may see more about his proposal on the Talisman Mountain Springs Inn website.
“We’ve done all the studies and assessments,” he said, “we haven’t had our say in public yet. We’re ready to make some adjustments as required. We can never satisfy everyone.”
For more on the subdivision proposal, interested people may see the details and comments on Grey County’s website. For the spa proposal, visit the Municipality of Grey Highlands website.
The Escarpment Corridor Alliance continues to track these developments, suggesting if either of them receive permits from the Niagara Escarpment Commission, “the ECA will be at the forefront of any appeal that gets to that stage.” Follow their side of the equation on the My Escarpment website.
Update: Grey Highlands Municipality has now received a comment letter from NEC Staff. In the letter, it is stated, "The NEP policies do not allow for the intensity of development that is currently proposed for this area." With regard to the permitted land use of the former Talisman properties, it also states, "In the absence of a ski centre, the current proposal introduces commercial and agricultural development (among others) which appears to be establishing a fourseason resort/tourism i.e., year-round operation that offers a larger scale of activity on the lands. This is a significant change to the ski centre and golf course which offered seasonal operational activities (at opposite times of the year), with the golf course use dedicated to a smaller portion of land at a lower intensity of use... The ERA policies in the NEP do not intend for the establishment of permitted uses in Part 1.8.3 without the existence of the necessary recreational development (primary use)." The entire letter is also available online.
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