Massive warehouse project an election issue for Oakville residents living near site

A plan to build a massive warehouse complex close to a residential neighbourhood has emerged as one of the election issues in Oakville.

With a week to go before the vote, locals say they’re worried that local authorities aren’t listening to their concerns about potential problems the development at Winston Churchill Boulevard and Lakeshore Road could bring — like excessive noise and truck emissions.

“This is going  to be one of the largest multi-tenant warehouses in Canada right behind peoples homes,” said Randy Rutherford, who’s lived in the area west of Toronto for 22 years.

“I would’ve thought we’d be more consulted in finding a way that would work for everybody.”

According to plans conditionally approved by Oakville’s town council this past summer, the complex will include five warehouses on about 30 hectares of land split between two separate lots. Critics say with 120,000 square metres of floor space and 226 loading docks, the development will be among the biggest in Canada.

Mayoral candidate Julia Hanna says she’s been hearing concerns, particularly from those who live in a residential neighbourhood adjacent to the site.

She says the residents are not against the development itself but they do want more say in conditions imposed by the town on the developer —  like how much noise will be permitted at the site, allowable emissions levels, and hours that trucks would be allowed to roll into and out of the complex.

“This will determine whether they have faith in their leaders to ensure they’re not giving up their way of life in exchange for employment lands,” Hanna told CBC Toronto.

But Rob Burton, the incumbent who’s running for another term as mayor, says the developers won’t be issued building permits until they prove they have met conditions set by the town, including on noise levels. And he dismisses concerns that trucks could be using the complex 24/7.

“I have never seen a warehouse that could work that way,” he said. “It’s a physical impossibility.”

He says the lands were zoned for warehouses in the 1960s, and “the people who bought the homes have always known that they backed onto 75 acres of land for warehouses. The warehouses were approved generations ago.” 

But Des Browne says his back yard is less than 150 metres from the site, and he maintains that’s too close.

“You would hope that something of this scale and intensity would at least be a minimum of a kilometre, maybe two kilometres away from people’s homes,” he said. 

“And with that many trucks potentially in the area, absolutely, [I’m] concerned about safety, not.just for the pedestrians or kids but for families that are coming and going in their vehicles.”

The Town of Oakville said in a statement to CBC Toronto that it’s taking the residents’ concerns seriously.

“The town is committed to ensuring that the new warehousing developments will address the concerns raised by the area residents,” the statement reads.

“The final approval will not be granted until the traffic and noise reports address outstanding concerns and any necessary mitigation measures are satisfactory to the town and its peer reviewer.”