The End of the Beginning

By Robert Colangelo

The brownfield market in Ontario is at the “end of the beginning.” While it is maturing, it’s far from being mature, as stakeholders end the original culture of “feel good do good” and begin to look at how to benefit from redevelopment. The private sector is becoming more competitive due to rising property values driven by a housing boom and Greenbelt legislation that restricts development in parts of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

The Ontario brownfield market, unlike the U.S. market, is primarily driven by the demand for developable land and rising property values. Blighted cities are not the driving factor, nor are businesses seeking an alternative to the environmental liability scheme presented in Superfund, like their U.S. counterparts.

It appears that the provincial government has also recognized this evolution in the private sector market and is ready to consider modification of existing policy and legislation to keep up with changing stakeholder needs.

Consequently, the provincial government has established a Brownfields Stakeholders Group with over 20 organizations represented, including the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the National Brownfield Assoc-iation. The first meeting of this group was held on February 10 at Ryerson University in Toronto.

The group will be providing comments to the province on Bill 51 (Proposed Planning and Conservation Land Statute Law Amendment Act, 2005), the Environmental Protection Act, Ontario Regulation 153/04 regarding qualified persons, and on the brownfield incentives provided by the Ministry of Finance.

Marcia Wallace, the recently appointed provincial brownfields co-ordinator, chaired the February 10 meeting. Wallace is responsible for coordinating activities between the various provincial ministries with brownfield responsibilities.

The stimulating discussions presented many new ideas, while at the same time rehashing some old ones. As one participant noted, as much as things change with brownfields, they remain the same. Some of the key issues discussed at the meeting, such as ways to limit civil liability, were discussed five years ago by the expert advisory panel that provided input into Bill 56 (the current brownfields legislation). The province now appears interested in taking a fresh look at some of the more arduous issues complicating brownfield redevelopment.

It will be interesting to see where the province takes the many suggestions that will be provided by the stakeholder group. Will it tackle the tough issues that have already been raised by the Ontario Chap-ter of the NBA, such as civil liability, the need for revisions to Ontario Regulation 347 in order to permit soil reuse as fill both on and off site, or the need for modifications to land use separation and noise guidelines to properly facilitate urban redevelopment?

Only time will tell, but we will be monitoring these discussions and providing updates. BFN

Robert Colangelo is publisher of Brownfield News and executive director of the NBA.