Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada
City of Belleville Purchases Bakelite property
City to buy 8.4-acre portion of Bakelite lands for $3.15 million for nature area
by Derek Baldwin in the Belleville Intelligencer – July 25, 2022
In a special meeting Monday, Belleville city council agreed 8-1 in a recorded vote to spend $3.15 million from an amended 2022 capital budget to purchase an 8.4-acre parcel of land within the former Bakelite plastics industrial property.
The acquisition will complement the donation of two adjacent parcels designated as provincially significant wetlands to the city by Osprey Shores developers Bernie Ouellette, Jerry DiRocco and Sam Brady who are proposing a major residential subdivision on the remaining 25 acres of Bakelite lands bordering Dundas Street East near Haig Road.
Mayor Mitch Panciuk called the new land purchase “historic” and said the combined new holdings for the city will mean a total of 42 acres of new waterfront lands owned by the city that will be protected for generations of Belleville residents to enjoy as new green space.
A presentation to city council offered several concepts for the new green space including the extension of the Bayshore Waterfront Trail eastward and a new pier to bird-watching stations and fishing areas along the Bay of Quinte shoreline.
Panciuk told reporters after a string of new property acquisitions including the new Belleville fairgrounds in Thurlow Ward, “when you take a look at legacy and having an impact on the future, 42 acres on the water tops all of that. This is going to be something for hundreds of years we are going to be able to enjoy as a community right on the [bay], right in the midst of our city.”
“It will be somewhere you can take your kids where you can show them birds and fauna and insects including butterflies. It is something future councils will decide how they want to build it out including potentially a pier and fishing areas,” the mayor said.
Earlier in the council meeting, Panciuk said very few, if any, municipalities are given an opportunity to buy such a large tract of land right on municipal waterfront to create a protected parkland for residents to get back to nature.
Pointing out that initial talks to create the green space at Bakelite began with the developers in 2019, Panciuk noted that Quinte Conservation penned a new letter offering a ringing endorsement of the city plans to move ahead with the land acquisition.
Lone dissenting Coun. Paul Carr, who is also a member of the Quinte Conservation board, said he was encouraged by the potential of clubbing three parcels together for a new natural area for the city.
However, he questioned the wisdom of the city paying $3.1 million for parkland and a pond that traditionally in other projects would see developers gift to the municipality anyway.
Carr told The Intelligencer after the meeting provincially significant wetland “is protected regardless of ownership. Parkland dedication as part of subdivision agreement would have achieved same as today but without public expenditure of $3.1 million,” he said.
Questioning the possibility of any remaining contaminants on the former resin-based manufacturing facility, Carr said, “I didn’t feel the city should take on an additional environment risk.”
Coun. Chris Malette nixed the notion of spoiled soils coming back to haunt the city in years to come given decades of remediation on the site to remove toxic compounds as ordered by the Ministry of Environment.
Malette agreed that years ago the brownfield property was “one of the worst biohazards on the Great Lakes” but said over time, major clean-up efforts have removed any tangible threats.
“This has the potential of being a jewel going forward … future generations will be able to enjoy it as they do the Frink Centre and other natural areas. I’m wholeheartedly in support of this,” Malette said, adding he was buoyed by the Quinte Field Naturalists (QFN) support.
Coun. Sean Kelly, who serves on the Quinte Conservation board, called it “an historic day, an exciting day” to see the city move firmly ahead to protect the waterfront property.
“So, this new space that we are in the process of potentially signing off on today has so many rewards for the city. I trust city staff, I trust Quinte Conservation and my gut tells me this is a ‘win-win’ for the community, economic benefits, social interaction, quality of life and, just think, in years to come, walking trails, biking trails … this is going to make our future brighter so I’m going to support this 100 per cent,” Kelly said.
In remarks to council, QFN spokesperson Elizabeth Churcher, an award-winning naturalist, gave the group’s full blessing to the city purchase of the property.
By buying the land between the two eco-portions of property being donated to the city, it will create a corridor for wildlife to thrive, she said.
“As an organization committed to the conservation of natural spaces … we view the expenditure of money to purchase the property as a very wise use of that money. Over time, the benefits to buying the land far exceed the money spent for its acquisition,” Churcher said.
“The purchase of the land supports biodiversity. The two eco-gifts and the land between them creates a continuous corridor of natural habitat which can support a wide variety of plants and animals. In the area, 164 species of birds have been identified,” she said.
“Without the purchase of 8.4 acres, the natural surroundings would be fragmented,” she said.
UPDATE: February 24, 2003
Naturalists dismayed by city council reversal of Bakelite land purchase
Author of the article:
Published Feb 24, 2023 • 2 minute read
Quinte Field Naturalists group is speaking out regarding city council’s decision Feb. 13 to decline a $3 million purchase of an 8.4-acre brownfield land parcel at the former Bakelite plastics site. JOHN LOWRY
Article content
Quinte Field Naturalists group is speaking out regarding city council’s decision Feb. 13 to decline a $3 million purchase of an 8.4-acre brownfield land parcel at the former Bakelite plastics site.
Article content
The citizens group sent a letter to city council Thursday.
Affiliated with Ontario Nature, a non-profit organization sponsoring nature education, conservation and research, the QFN said it is concerned the city also turned down the donation by developers of two adjacent land parcels that include provincially significant wetlands.
Dr. Elizabeth Churcher, QFN corresponding secretary, wrote on behalf of members “to express their deep disappointment and concern in learning that the City of Belleville’s decision to purchase 8.4 acres of Bakelite property and to accept, as eco gifts, two additional environmentally sensitive properties has been reversed.”
“As an organization committed to the conservation of natural spaces in the Quinte Region, QFN supported the city’s acquisition of the property, viewing the decision as a proactive move to ensure the protection of its ecosystems, one of which is the Belleville Marsh, a provincially significant wetland. Natural areas offer a large range of ecosystem services. Over time, the benefits derived from the expenditure of the three million dollars to purchase the land would have far exceeded the money spent in its acquisition,” Churcher wrote.
Article content
“The decision to allow the property to remain in the ownership of developers has the potential, along with Bill 23, to subject the Bakelite property to development at some time in the future. Buildings can never replace the value of the natural resources that currently populate and serve the area. The ecosystems are at work assisting with water conservation and storage, carbon sequestration, water filtration and purification, and flood mitigation and control. They, too, provide critical habitat for a large variety of plants and animals.”
The acquisition of the lands, she said, would have linked the parcels together creating an unbroken corridor for wildlife.
“Beyond the ecosystem services that the Bakelite property offers, the contiguous corridor of natural space provides opportunities in recreation and education. A growing number of people who are interested in the natural world enjoy visiting locations that have rich, protected natural areas: consequently, these destinations support tourism, outdoor recreation and rejuvenation, citizen science and research. In summary, QFN urges you to uphold the true value of natural spaces and protect the invaluable resources that enrich the City of Belleville and that can never be replaced,” she wrote.