The December 10th pre-hearing for the Marrianeville Development of the Glenway Golf Course property could not have gone worse for the residents of the Glenway community.
Ruth Victor, the outside consultant hired by the town but subsequently had her very reasonable recommendations rejected by council (namely 1) reject the without prejudice offer, and 2) keep negotiating with the developer) in a dramatic unanimous vote at the Newmarket Theatre, faced questions from both sides yesterday.
The result of the questioning saw the OMB decide to hear details of the without prejudice offers as well as a decision to hear what testimony from the Town's own staff planners. The lawyer for the Town of Newmarket argued against both but failed to convince the chairperson.
In his blog, Ward 7 Councillor tried to downplay these decisions by limiting his insight to just three sentences on the subject. I am sure that Glenway homeowners will need a whole lot more detail from him to explain the potential impact of these most serious setbacks for the Newmarket side.
Don't be fooled by the attempt at positive spin around right to argue the principle of development. The Town of Newmarket lawyer will need a miracle to make that argument stick. And based on how dastardly the council treated the well-respected Ms. Victor at the public meeting, I can't imagine too many professionals in her industry are lining up to take on what will almost certainly be akin to captaining the Titanic.
The Town has approximately 90 days to get a case together. This might seem like plenty of time but keep in mind, Ruth Victor's report took almost 2 years to create. (Not to mention it was delivered approximately 6-months too late which is why this mess is in front of the OMB).
I don't see a silver lining in yesterday's meeting. Maybe those who think they do see one were confused by tinsel hanging with the Christmas decorations.
There are ice bergs ahead and now is not the time for politicians like John Taylor and Chris Emanuel to downplay the significance of the evidential ruling.
As always, the pompous asses screw the town and it's residents! Chris Emanuel thought he could run solo with this and now it comes to bite him. He will not have any chance to right this. The mayor's wonder boy has screwed it up and now, Mr. Mayor, you are screwed too!
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