Road will not be extended through residents’ homes and properties

Residents of Ridge Road and County Roads 10 and 1 waited just over two months to get assurance there will not be a road built through their homes and properties.

Council declared Tuesday night that a vision for an extension of County Road 22 from the base of the road to the heights would be removed from the Transportation Master Plan (TMP).

Several residents attended the council meeting to have their say before councillors heard a report on the TMP amendment for Picton, which is designed to set a vision for future transportation infrastructure and services.

Stantec is completing the TMP amendment for the Picton settlement area as a higher level of growth is now projected there, beyond what was assumed as part of the County-wide TMP completed in 2021. The company proposed the road in its report.

Both the TMP and the amendment are meant to be used as a preferred strategy reference and as a guiding document for policy and transportation investment decisions for short and long terms.

Though the extension of County Road 22 was presented as a long-term goal, it was front of mind for the people it directly affected.

“Properties are not just houses, they are homes. The stress, anxiety, fear and uncertainty have had a significant impact on our physical and mental health over the past months,” stated Mike McDonald.

“I became aware on January the 2nd from my neighbour John Gregg, of a proposed County Road 22 extension, which basically, was going to go through his house and a number of other residences if it goes forward. So I came to realize we were facing possible expropriation of our property, demolition of our homes and being forced to move – without even a time frame as to when this could happen.

“In addition to the constant threat of being forced out of our homes, it has rendered our properties unsellable…. For properties not being expropriated, but adjacent to this new road… you’ll have a major factor in devaluing those properties.

He noted the cost estimate for the approximate half kilometre road was just under $5 million – not including design and legal costs, two new intersections, environmental assessment, “and most importantly, the cost of acquiring a minimum of four entire properties and portions of others, possibly and the cost of fighting appeals to the Ontario Land Tribunal – could easily become $10 or $12 million.

The TMP had identified two alternatives – the existing County Road 1 and County Road 10.

“But I would like to finishing by talking about the human costs. I would like to commend the chief administrative officer for apologizing to us in a meeting last month – for the stress and anxiety that the ‘premature actions’ of posting this notice caused.

“And it’s nice to get that, but it does nothing to alleviate the real issue – losing our homes, being unable to sell our properties if we choose to do so and being forced from the place in which we have built our lives and our families and our memories.

John Gregg added the profuse apology that County staff offered Feb. 5, stating the notification was a premature error, “was a notice that changed our lives” and would result in demolition of his painting studio he had created and used for the past 19 years. “And if this route is approved, in consideration of our age (he and his wife in their 80s), that council expropriate immediately so that my wife and I might be able to find a new home.”

Paul Champagne, who lives on County Road 1, didn’t receive any notice. He learned from a neighbour that a road could be going through his house – right through the living room.

“Base 31 lies within the secondary confines of Picton’s town limit. It is, therefore, the responsibility of Base 31 to figure out its own transportation problems,” he added.

“It took me 10 years to get a diagnosis from my wife’s brain disease. I have gone to great lengths to get care she needs from the County programs. If displaced out of the County because I can’t find another home, where will I get a new doctor and proper care she needs?

“This will be our last home in this lifetime. The prospect of losing our home has put enormous strain on both my wife, and myself… something we do not need.”

Cheryl O’Brien, of the Warings Creek Improvement Association, spoke to the extension of George Wright Boulevard, also noted in the plan, calling it a third insult to the ecology and wetland of Warings Creek. (Referring to recent development approvals) That part of the TMP amendment was not removed. The hydrogeological study of the area is expected to be completed in mid to late spring.

Following the comments from the audience, Bob Williams and Diana Addley, of Stantec, gave an overview of the amendment for Picton, which was approved by council (without the County Road 22 expansion). It includes remarks and recommendations about cycling, pedestrians, traffic, truck routes, parking and more in the TMP, such as possible routes for trucks or cars to bypass the downtown of Picton to avoid seasonal traffic congestion.

Projects were grouped into tiers based on a combination of cost and anticipated level of required staff support.

It was noted fewer than 100 people attended the three public information meetings – 14 in December 2023, 21 in April and 55 in July 2024. It was also noted pubic notices about consultations were posted in the local print newspapers and posted on the County’s social media platforms.

There was extensive conversation about  “endorsing” the massive and ambitious plan.

Councillor Janice Maynard attempted to gain support to change the wording to indicate the “ambitious long-term wish list” could be used as a “reference” for future budgetary consideration. “My intent is not to scrap this plan… I just found the word ‘endorse’ a little strong. It is an aggressive plan.” She also noted she would have preferred to see it come up at Committee of the Whole where it could have been discussed more fully.

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” countered councillor Phil St-Jean. “This is a plan for the future… And council endorses as something to build your budgets on… This is about endorsing a transportation amendment to the transportation plan…. It may not happen in five years; it may not happen in 10, but this is a 30 year vision that we need. We need to have the guts to actually endorse something.”

The amendment was approved in a 9-3 vote.

“Thank you all for coming forward this evening,” said Mayor Steve Ferguson, as the group of residents got up to leave the council gallery. “I hope you understand that this has been dealt with, and you can relax.”

“Thank you very much, mayor,” one of the residents responded.

Next steps are to finalize a master plan report and future municipal Class EA Process for Recommended Projects – including improvement to the intersection at the cenotaph and the George Wright Boulevard extension. Next steps also include more public consultation, detailed technical and environmental studies and evaluation of alternative solutions and design concepts.

The Picton TMP final report documents, and public consultations, can be found on the County’s website.