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Coun. fears legal fights, seeks reset of boundary – Metro US

Coun. fears legal fights, seeks reset of boundary

Faced with the prospect of “horrendous legal costs” to fight 29 different appeals to city council’s decision to limit urban boundary expansion, a city councillor is calling for the boundary to be reset to the initial size.

In a narrow vote last June, city council rejected a proposed 842-hectare expansion of the urban boundary, opting for 222 hectares over the next five years.

College Ward Coun. Rick Chiarelli has a motion at city council today to return the urban boundary to the proposed size.

He said there is a winnable case for freezing the boundary, and there is a winnable case for going with the staff recommendation of 842 hectares, but building a case to defend the 222-hectare position at the Ontario Municipal Board would be horrendously expensive, and likely futile.

However, Ecology Ottawa is urging councillors not to expand the boundary.

“Any legal costs associated with fighting a battle at the OMB are likely to be insignificant compared to the long-term financial and environmental costs to the city of all this potential sprawl,” said Ecology Ottawa steering committee member Ian Thomson.