Heather Wright/The Independent

Northville residents and environmentalists are voicing concerns about a proposal which could lead to a seasonal campground with 179 lots in the middle of a 35-acre wooded area which they say contains species at risk.

Linda and Sean Lucier from Arkona have been working on the plan for triangular piece of land since 2021 which, at the time, proposed 210 spaces for trailers. The plan has since been scaled back.

“We are not proposing to clear cut the trees. We are not proposing housing development, and we are not proposing urban development. What we are proposing is a seasonal campground, a recreational land use with the low impact to the land,” Linda Lucier said at a public meeting Feb. 24.

“Every aspect of this proposal has been developed with careful attention to protecting the wildlife. The canopy cover the ecological functions and ensuring the project supports the recreational use while still respecting the natural environment of the woodlands itself,” she said. Lucier added more than 70 per cent of the woodland there would be retained. The couple also plan a minimum 15-metre tree buffer on Northville Crescent and 23 metres along Highway 21 will be preserved.

The couple hired planners to complete an Environmental Impact Study for the plan. They concluded while there is a significant woodland, under Lambton Shores planning rules, a campground could be permitted.

A staff planning report prepared for the meeting said the proponents have to assess the natural heritage features and functions and show any potential negative impacts could be mitigated and were allowed. Development could occur “provided they do not negatively impact natural heritage systems or features,” writes Senior Planner Will Nywening.

He suggested almost 10 acres of trees would have to be removed for the project for roads and campsites and the impact of the scattered removal would be “greater” than if a block was removed. 

The landowners would have to pay up about $94,000 to remove the trees under the Wood Lot Bylaw. That would be enough to start an 19-acre woodlot on another piece of land. 

“We question whether 18.8 acres of ‘artificial’ woodland located ‘somewhere’ has the same ecological

value as 9.6 acres of established woodland located along this prime natural heritage corridor,” Nywening  wrote. 

The report says “staff is not comfortable” supporting the changes to the Official Plan and zoning rules to allow the campground.

Nywening’s comments were echoed by over two dozen residents in letters to the municipalities.  Some people at the public meeting on the proposal, including self-professed amateur botanist James Holdsworth, said the environmental study was simply wrong. 

“They primarily omitted the two species that would be most likely to occur, which is eastern hognose snake and dwarf hackberry. I live directly across the road from the proposed site; I have records of eastern hognose snake – two road kill records – adjacent to the property. So that snake was either going to the property or from the property. They (the developer’s consultants) also state the dwarf hackberry, which is threatened and afforded habitat protection in Ontario, is not present on the site. 

“We walked the road three days ago and checked the adjacent vegetation within the study area and found seven dwarf hackberry quite easily. I would say that the EIS findings would have to be questioned in terms of completeness and accuracy,” said Holdsworth.

Others told council when they went through the same planning process on their property, they reported the rare species there.  

“They had to say that it was there because they were being entirely truthful about the matter,” said one resident at the public meeting.  

“This plan has been written by somebody who’s very far away from here. They don’t honor the natural heritage that is here in our locale.”

Dana Bray said there are 16 other campgrounds in a 30-kilometre radius around the site and the planned campground is not necessary. 

“The amount of land that has to be deforested for this trailer park, to me, isn’t acceptable,” she said. 

“Our ancient Carolinian forest is already under threat from the ash borer Beetle and the gypsy moths that are wreaking havoc on our oaks and we need to maintain these forests as much as we can.”

Council deferred its decision on the project before the public spoke but at least one councillor voiced caution suggesting if the campground is not allowed, something more damaging to the environment could be planned in the future.

Council is expected to look at the plan again at the March 17 meeting.