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Dave Rogers
The Ottawa Citizen
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
The brother of Ottawa Mayor Bob Chiarelli is to appear in provincial offences court tomorrow to face charges of violating zoning regulations by expanding the Riverbend Golf and Country Club on to land not zoned for a golf course.
In 1998 and 1999, Frank Chiarelli expanded the course to 23.5 acres of rural land on Franktown Road, near Richmond, before he applied to take up to 1.1 million litres a day from the Jock River for irrigation. The river runs through the golf club’s grounds.
The Ontario Ministry of Environment rejected the request in November 2002 and vetoed a plan to draw 737,000 litres daily from the river in September 2005 out of concern that doing so would kill the river’s fish.
If the golf course—known also as 1039724 Ontario Ltd.—is convicted, Mr. Chiarelli faces a maximum $50,000 fine under the Ontario Planning Act.
The company is charged with violating a 1999 Goulbourn township zoning bylaw because the golf course expansion took place before amalgamation in 2000.
Stuart Huxley, a lawyer for the City of Ottawa, said yesterday the 23.5-acre parcel on the Jock River is zoned rural and can’t be used as a golf course without a zoning amendment.
“Generally, if there is a land use or zoning charge, a period of time elapses to permit us to investigate the ownership and legal description of the land and the zoning,” he said yesterday. “Before laying charges, zoning enforcement will often encourage the property owner to rectify the violation by seeking a zoning amendment.
“There was a rezoning application made in this case and it is still before the planning department being processed. The rezoning application has not been approved.”
Mr. Huxley said provincial offences court is expected to consider an adjournment tomorrow before Mr. Chiarelli enters a plea.
Mr. Chiarelli could not be reached yesterday for comment.
Critics said the club’s plan to expand and take water from the Jock for up to 100 days a year would “suck the river dry” during the summer. They said removing that amount of water would exceed the river’s flow.
The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority measured the flow of the Jock at 691,200 litres daily in October 2002. Patrick Larson, an official with the agency, said anyone using water from the river should limit consumption to prevent the river from drying up. He said removing a large amount of water could kill fish, birds and animals.
Riverbend’s permit to take 227,300 litres daily from the river expired in April 2004. The golf club’s current water removal permit allows owner Frank Chiarelli to use up to 50,000 litres daily for irrigation during the summer.
Mr. Chiarelli said in June he does not plan to appeal the ministry’s decision because the amount of water he is allowed to remove from the river is sufficient for now.
A federal Fisheries and Oceans Department submission to the 2005 water-taking hearing said there should be enough water in the river to maintain wildlife habitat and sustain fish migration.
Opponents of the water-taking proposal suggested Mr. Chiarelli dig ponds to catch storm water.
He dismissed alternative sources to the river water. He said the course can’t dig a well or create ponds to store water, because the bedrock is too close to the surface.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2006