RE: Denying ERO Proposal 026…

RE: Denying ERO Proposal 026-0551 (Millcroft Greens MZO Request) and Granting the City of Burlington’s Prior Protective MZO Requests

As a resident of Burlington, I am writing to voice my steadfast objection to the Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO) requested by Millcroft Greens Corporation to pave over the remaining 100 acres of the Millcroft Golf Course.

Instead, I strongly urge the Minister to honor and implement the unanimous resolutions passed by Burlington City Council on September 26, 2023, and July 16, 2024 (Resolution ADM-09-24), which explicitly requested that the Province issue an MZO to permanently protect and maintain the "Parks and Open Space" zoning designation on these exact lands. Halton Regional Council unanimously endorsed this protection on October 18, 2023.

The province should enforce the City's protective MZO request rather than the developer's requested override for the following critical planning reasons:

Developer Bad Faith and Subversion of the OLT:
The developer successfully secured an Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) decision (Case No. OLT-22-004151) by arguing that developing parts of the course (Parcels A-E) was a balanced compromise that would leave the remaining 100 acres intact as a viable open space system. The developer's immediate pivot to request an MZO for the balance of those lands proves that the evidence they presented to the OLT was a moving target.

Upholding Local Democratic Mandate:
Land-use planning authority should rest with local councils and the communities they represent. Burlington Council has made it clear through its formal MZO requests and its 2022 Official Plan that the Millcroft Golf Course is not needed to meet provincially mandated housing targets; the city has ample alternative areas designated for growth.

Protection of Critical Stormwater Infrastructure:
As noted in the City’s prior council resolutions, the Millcroft Golf Course is unique in Ontario. It was engineered specifically as a figure-eight floodplain weaving between homes to act as a natural stormwater conveyance basin for local creek systems. Forcing a housing MZO on an active floodplain poses severe, irreversible flooding risks to thousands of existing homeowners. This directly contradicts the Premier's stated position that Ontario will not build homes on floodplains.

The developer's website openly admits that this MZO is a retaliatory response to a breakdown in private financial negotiations with the municipality. The Province must not allow the MZO framework to be weaponized by a corporation to subvert a binding OLT decision and punish a municipality.

I request that the Minister flatly deny the developer’s application and instead grant the protective MZO long sought by the City of Burlington to safeguard this critical green infrastructure for posterity.