Cathy Dobson/The Independent

Significant residential developments in two local municipalities will be blocked if the province agrees to a “heavy-handed” request from Cargill Sarnia Grain Terminal to override the municipal planning process, say Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley and Point Edward Mayor Bev Hand.

Shortly before Christmas, Cargill alerted both communities it has asked Ontario’s Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack to prohibit “sensitive” land uses within 300 metres of its Exmouth St. terminal using a Ministerial Zoning Order.

MZOs allow the minister to make changes to land zoning rules, override municipal decisions and, in theory, fast-track housing projects.

The orders have been allowed for decades, but in 2024, Ontario’s Auditor General said MZOs were used 114 times in Ontario between 2019 and 2025 under Premier Doug Ford’s government. That’s 17 times more frequently than in the previous 20 years.

Politicians in Lambton say Cargill’s request to the Minister of Municipal Affairs is premature.

“It’s very heavy-handed,” said Bradley Tuesday at a Sarnia-Lambton Golden K Kiwanis meeting. “If they get this order, we lose total control.”

Cargill “has really lost an ally with this approach,” he said.

The terminal has operated since 1927 where Sarnia borders Point Edward at the foot of Exmouth St. Southwestern Ontario farmers – including in Lambton – rely on the terminal to transport grain and fertilizer to the global market.

Cargill’s letter said the terminal handles approximately 35 per cent of Ontario’s export grain and is “critical” to the agricultural industry, trade and economy.

Noise, dust, odour and vibrations from Cargill’s operation would conflict with proposed residential development, the letter adds.

Bradley told reporters he believes a high rise proposed by London developer Tricar for the former Stokes By the Bay property on Harbour Street, and a 156-unit townhouse development announced three years ago in Point Edward across the street from Cargill, has prompted the corporation to try for an MZO from Flack.

“They’ve blindsided us by doing this,” Bradley said. “We’ve always had a mixed use waterfront and we are saying we can work our way through this without the province.”

Point Edward’s Mayor Hand said she intends to speak with Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey about Cargill’s MZO application and has already sent a letter of complaint to his office.

“I’ve never seen this happen locally,” Hand said, “and the irony is that MZOs are supposed to support development. This is the opposite of that.”

Hand said there will be no residential development allowed within 300 metres of Cargill if the order is approved.

“I don’t believe any municipality would be happy to see their local zoning bylaws overridden by the provincial government,” she said.

“It’s very upsetting. The developer has already put a lot of money into that land (where the Point Edward townhouses are proposed). I feel for anybody who has invested in these lands.”

On top of the 300 metre radius where Cargill wants “sensitive” land uses like residential prohibited, it also wants an area reaching out as far as Front Street to require extra studies and “mitigation measures” for new development.

Both Hand and Bradley said they have never heard of a Ministerial Zoning Order being issued in Sarnia-Lambton.

Hand and Bradley noted that the Point Edward development was already the subject of an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal that was resolved. A plan to mitigate dust and noise was already hammered out and approved by the tribunal in 2025.

“I say the developer knows that dust and noise need to be addressed,” said Hand. “This is very unfair.”

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