Planned housing project threatens Niagara Escarpment: opponents

Opponents of a planned housing project in Ontario's Beaver Valley are warning that the proposal opens the door to development across much of the protected Niagara Escarpment. 

The project would see 280 townhomes and 90 apartment units built close to the Beaver River near Kimberley, Ont., at the site of the former Talisman Mountain Resort, about 150 kilometres northwest of Toronto.

The Talisman property falls within the Niagara Escarpment biosphere, a 725-kilometre long stretch of land that winds from Niagara Falls to the Bruce Peninsula. 

Stephen Griggs, chair of the Escarpment Corridor Alliance, a non-profit preservation group, says approval of the project would boost the likelihood of developers building housing on other escarpment properties with the same status as the Talisman lands. 

"Our concern is if this development is allowed to proceed, it will make it so much easier for others to follow," Griggs said in an interview.  

"We are tremendously concerned with the proposal," said Griggs. "The viewscape of the heart of the Beaver Valley, which is the heart of the Niagara Escarpment, would be destroyed forever." 

Ontario's Niagara Escarpment Plan has governed land use across the area since its creation by the province in 1985. While the plan protects much of the escarpment, development is permitted in sections classed as recreational use. That includes the former Talisman property, which hasn't operated as a ski resort since 2011. 

There are 34 properties across the escarpment covering more than 6,600 hectares designated as recreational use that could be developed in the same way, according to research by the Escarpment Corridor Alliance. 

That's more than twice the size of the lands that Premier Doug Ford's government opened up for development in Ontario's Greenbelt, before scrapping the plan in the face of public opposition. 

"This is a very serious issue for the province and one that the provincial government should be focused on," said Griggs.

The company behind the Talisman project, Beaver Valley Development Group, submitted a detailed plan to Grey County in mid-April. 

CBC News asked company officials for an interview. In an emailed statement, Paul Mondell, vice-president of development and planning, said the proposal "will create and preserve significant open space on the majority of our land, support and enhance infrastructure needs of the community, provide new employment opportunities and in a small part contribute to the much needed housing supply for all of Grey County."  

Beaver Valley Development Group's website describes the homes as "a mix of housing choices that will appeal to both end users that want to live and play in the area and investor units, with a professionally managed rental program."

The company says their project will "revitalize" the Beaver Valley.