Warehouse flip-flop confusing

The on-again, off-again Blair mega-warehouse project is on again. And bewildered people across this region must be wondering what the heck is happening inside Cambridge City Hall. Just two months ago, the city’s political brain trust refused to give the go-ahead to the development in a nail-biter, 5 to 4 vote. And yes, that was the same development the same group of politicians had enthusiastically and unanimously supported in April 2021, arguing at the time it would bring loads of jobs and buckets of money to Cambridge.

Then, this past Tuesday, suddenly and without giving the public a heads-up, the same council reversed itself and voted to allow the warehouse to be built on the edge of the historic village of Blair. Only two councillors voted against that decision. How bizarre. How confusing. What just transpired is definitely not the way to run a mid-sized Ontario city.

It goes without saying that the villagers of Blair who rallied and fought against the warehouse for months will feel blindsided as well as furious. What the broader community in the city and across Waterloo Region will or should think has been complicated by the explanations from some city councillors. Is this latest decision in the best interest of the public? Cambridge Coun. Mike Mann, who voted in March to stop the warehouse, executed a deft 180-degree turn this week and wholeheartedly endorsed it. In justifying his change of mind from March, which was in itself a change in mind from the previous April, Mann said he was now considering the good of the whole community and its support for the jobs the warehouse would bring.

But Mann further muddied already turbid waters by suggesting the city might have had no choice in the matter. The project’s developer, Brocollini, was ready to take its case to the Ontario Land Tribunal, Mann said. If that happened, the tribunal might have ruled against the city. Interesting point. But if city council had a strong case based on its adherence to provincial and municipal planning rules, it should have had nothing to fear from the tribunal.

If there’s one positive takeaway from the city’s latest warehouse vote, it’s that a major decision on a project of regionwide significance was made at the local level and that council can still influence the final project. And, to be fair, it’s worth remembering that four members of council remained steadfast in supporting the warehouse throughout the entire controversy. But there will still be a bitter taste in the mouths of many citizens because of how council on the whole mismanaged the development. Go back to April of last year. Without giving the public adequate advanced warning, city council went behind closed doors and endorsed the developer’s request for a minister’s zoning order.

That MZO, which has yet to be officially granted by the Ontario government, would have fast-tracked the warehouse without the usual, and almost always necessary, public consultation. In retrospect, that council decision was hasty and ill-advised. The city should have let everyone know what it was considering and held public meetings before signing off on the MZO. Conversely, it could have rejected the MZO proposal and told the developer to go through the normal planning process, with all its avenues for public input.

Had council taken more time, canvassed more public opinion and allowed the pros and cons of the warehouse to be thrashed out in an open public forum, it could have made a final call and easily defended its position. And had it reached its original conclusion, that the warehouse was right for Cambridge, it could have stood by what strikes us as a reasonable call.

After all, land in that part of the city had already been rezoned for light industrial use. The local economy relies heavily on transport trucks. The warehouse would be built a stone’s throw from a 401 interchange that offers the trucks using the warehouse direct access to Canada’s busiest highway. Hundreds of jobs — and tax revenue — for the city would follow. And steps could be taken — as they now will — to mitigate the warehouse’s impact on the village itself. Perhaps that’s looking back. Looking forward, there’s no doubt this matter will be on voters’ minds in this fall’s municipal elections.