Provincial act protecting Pickering ag preserve passes
Dec 21, 2005
By Danielle Milley Staff Writer
PICKERING -- Developer Silvio DeGasperis isn't planning on selling the land he owns in the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve, even though the Province has officially made the land off-limits to development.
The Province passed the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve Act late Dec. 15, which protects 4,700 acres of farmland in central Pickering that is east of York-Durham Townline and west of Duffins Creek.
Mr. DeGasperis owns 1,500 acres of land in the preserve.
"We are not considering the sale of our land in the Growth Management Study urban boundary (Cherrywood)," he wrote in an e-mail Monday.
In 1999, when the Province sold the land, which it had owned since expropriating it in the mid-1970s, some of it was bought by developers who stood to make a large profit since much of the land was sold at agricultural prices with easements on it indicating it remain agricultural "in perpetuity."
The City held the easements and removed some of them in March 2005 to settle a lawsuit with landowners. The City's growth management study recommends the southern portion of the preserve -- known as Cherrywood -- be developed.
Residents and citizens groups, including the Whitevale and District Residents Association (WDRA) and the Rouge Duffins Greenspace Coalition, have been pressing for years to make sure the land stays protected. Sandy Rider, president of the WDRA, was ecstatic Monday when she heard the legislation had passed.
"What a great Christmas present for all the people who worked so hard to do this," she said.
The legislation would reinforce the conditions agreed to in the 1999 memorandum of understanding (MOU), signed by the City, Region of Durham, the Province, Ms. Rider and the Green Door Alliance, which placed the easements on some of the land. It would ensure all existing easements are held in perpetuity and reinstate easements previously held and released by the City of Pickering.
Mr. DeGasperis is considering his legal options in regard to this action.
Ms. Rider hopes the next step for this land is the Province will provide support and programs to help farmers make the land a valuable source of food for the GTA.
By Danielle Milley Staff Writer
PICKERING -- Developer Silvio DeGasperis isn't planning on selling the land he owns in the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve, even though the Province has officially made the land off-limits to development.
The Province passed the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve Act late Dec. 15, which protects 4,700 acres of farmland in central Pickering that is east of York-Durham Townline and west of Duffins Creek.
Mr. DeGasperis owns 1,500 acres of land in the preserve.
"We are not considering the sale of our land in the Growth Management Study urban boundary (Cherrywood)," he wrote in an e-mail Monday.
In 1999, when the Province sold the land, which it had owned since expropriating it in the mid-1970s, some of it was bought by developers who stood to make a large profit since much of the land was sold at agricultural prices with easements on it indicating it remain agricultural "in perpetuity."
The City held the easements and removed some of them in March 2005 to settle a lawsuit with landowners. The City's growth management study recommends the southern portion of the preserve -- known as Cherrywood -- be developed.
Residents and citizens groups, including the Whitevale and District Residents Association (WDRA) and the Rouge Duffins Greenspace Coalition, have been pressing for years to make sure the land stays protected. Sandy Rider, president of the WDRA, was ecstatic Monday when she heard the legislation had passed.
"What a great Christmas present for all the people who worked so hard to do this," she said.
The legislation would reinforce the conditions agreed to in the 1999 memorandum of understanding (MOU), signed by the City, Region of Durham, the Province, Ms. Rider and the Green Door Alliance, which placed the easements on some of the land. It would ensure all existing easements are held in perpetuity and reinstate easements previously held and released by the City of Pickering.
Mr. DeGasperis is considering his legal options in regard to this action.
Ms. Rider hopes the next step for this land is the Province will provide support and programs to help farmers make the land a valuable source of food for the GTA.
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