Millcroft Against Bad Development member Cynthia Shanahan touches on pleading with Doug Ford for an MZO, NIMBYs, home values, and online criticism
Cynthia Shanahan has not heard the birds that used to chirp beyond her backyard in some time. Instead, she and her neighbours in Millcroft have heard the beeping, buzzing and bulldozing that comes with development.
For months, members of Millcroft Against Bad Development (MAD) have been saying the ongoing development at Millcroft Golf Course has been impacting wildlife, specifically birds in the middle of nesting season. A report from Environment and Climate Change Canada says no evidence of violations of the Migratory Birds Convention Act were found at the north Burlington golf course, and no actions will be taken.
“It is shocking for the entire neighbourhood,” Shanahan, a member of MAD, said. “We all witnessed the birds flying out, we saw them going back into the fallen trees. We know what the nesting period is, and it is shocking they found no fault and no basis to lay charges.”
Shanahan said she and many members of MAD are hopeful that Ontario Premier Doug Ford will step in with a Ministry Zoning Order (MZO), which could halt development of the golf course. The proposed development would see 90 houses and an apartment building constructed on what is formerly the final few holes of the course that snakes throughout mid-Burlington.
It is possible that two MZOs could be issued, one for the ongoing development and another for future development on other parts of the course. Ford has not stepped in yet, despite MAD members asking for aid for years, but Shanahan remains optimistic that he will eventually relent.
“Things just keep coming up, the reasons why this is not a smart development just keep growing,” she said. “Not only are all the residents against it, but the city, region and our MPP. We have 20,000 signatures on a petition, we were represented at the Ontario Land Tribunal, we have done everything we can to point out how tragic this is.”
Members of MAD have seen online criticism suggesting they are only doing all of this to save their property values. Real estate website Zillow has Millcroft houses currently for sale for as high as as high as $3.5 million, with many in the $1.5 million to $2 million range.
Shanahan said the community is more concerned about rising water than rising values.
“In the 2014 flood, I had water at my door, there was a river between my house and my neighbours,” she said. “It was not sewer backup, it was overland flooding. It was like a bad dream. When people say it is about protecting our backyard, well sure, we want our backyards protected. Lots of people paid lots of money to back onto a golf course, but the real issue is flooding.”
Shanahan said she pays $900 annually for overland flooding insurance, something many in the area cannot get.
She said people calling MAD a group of NIMBYs – Not In My Back Yard – are not seeing the full scope of the issue.
“NIMBYs are people protecting their own back yard who are not interested in the greater good,” she said. Of the current plan, she added, “There is no greater good here. This is not affordable housing. This is not appropriate housing.”
Most recently, residents have shared concerns about ongoing gas line work in the area, and the cutting down of 400 trees on the course.
