It's been all about building as many new homes as possible in Ontario recently, but now a big corporation wants to stop housing projects in the Sarnia area — something that’s pitting rural and urban communities against one another.
Cargill wants the provincial government to utilize its Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) for the opposite reason it was originally intended.
The tool has become increasingly common as Ontario pushes to build 1.5 million homes by 2031. An MZO allows the housing minister to override the local planning process and make decisions directly. Usually, that means speeding up development.
But in Sarnia, Cargill wants Minister of Municipal Affairs of Housing Rob Flack to step in and block new homes from being built near its property.
The company is one of the biggest agricultural corporations in the world, and it operates a large grain terminal at Sarnia Harbour. This is where farmers truck their corn, soybeans and wheat at harvest time. Some of the product also comes in by rail. The grain gets loaded on to lake freighters for transport.
It’s estimated more than a third of all the grain exported from Ontario goes through the terminal. Fertilizer is also brought in from ships at this site.
Across the road, to the north, there’s a tract of land within the boundaries of the Village of Point Edward. For the past four years, a developer has been seeking to get townhouses built there.
Meanwhile, southeast of Cargill, near the harbour, there’s an old restaurant property. Sarnia city council approved redevelopment plans on that site on May 25. The plan is to build a 14-storey apartment building.
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