Activity at the site of a proposed shooting range in Ramara Township has some residents up in arms.
Ramara Sports Ltd. and 1974115 Ontario Ltd. own the property at 1131 Concession Rd. 5, and the amount of soil trucked to the site is among the main concerns of residents including Mike Douglas.
“The large-scale dumping of soil in Ramara Township is currently being achieved by excluding the critical provisions of Bylaw 2012.70, which would provide the needed oversight that a large-scale dumping of over 50,000 cubic metres of soil requires,” he said.
The owners have indicated no new fill has been brought in since the they took ownership of the property in June 2017. Rather, they say, they have been moving existing soil for site preparation. The fill used prior to the change in ownership caught the attention of residents, but the township’s chief building official maintains everything has been done by the books.
“Nothing to date has been in contravention of Bylaw 2012.70 or any other municipal bylaw,” said Dave Wellman.
The amount of fill being used isn’t Douglas’s only concern. He pointed to other municipalities that have been left with big messes after receiving fill from the Greater Toronto Area. The Township of Scugog, he noted, filed a lawsuit, hoping to be able to cover the cost of cleaning up a property that received contaminated soil.
Wellman, however, is confident the soil used at the Ramara site is not contaminated.
“The township has documentation that all soils deposited on site to date are clean,” he said. “Any future importation of soils will also be verified prior to being brought to the site.”
The township also noted the Ministry of the Environment visited the site, met with township staff and said the fill was in accordance with regulations.
Douglas has been critical of how the township has dealt with the site plan process.
“For whatever unknown reason, it appears that the chief building inspector wants the Ramara Township council to expedite the approval of the site plan application, thus removing Simcoe County's condition that the site plan be approved by Ramara Township before Simcoe County will grant a temporary entrance permit off of Simcoe County Road 47,” he said.
Wellman sees it differently.
“The current site plan is being processed in the same manner as any other application would be,” he said.
The proposed project would be a private membership club “for the purpose of education and recreation,” the owners said in a letter to council.
“It will only be used by law enforcement agents, military personnel and shooting enthusiasts (members only).”
Douglas and others want concerned residents to attend the Ramara council meeting March 26 at 7 p.m. “in an attempt to, hopefully, somehow influence the Ramara Township council members to recognize their responsibilities to safeguard the health and welfare of the residents.” During that meeting, a representative of the Ontario Soil Regulation Task Force will make a deputation to council.
