Work on $40-million shopping centre can't begin until March; Agreement with Iroquois Confederacy outlines procedures

By Michael-Allan Marion
Brantford Expositor
Nov. 28, 2006

A developer may be free to proceed with a $40-million retail power centre planned for Wayne Gretzky Parkway, but is under tight limitations in an agreement with the Iroquois Confederacy on how much it can do in the short term.

According to the agreement, First Gulf Development Corp. may not begin site preparation or construction on its 266,953-square-foot commercial centre on 24 acres of land at Wayne Gretzky and Henry Street before March 1.

It also must enter into a detailed public consultation process with the Confederacy council and the Six Nations community.

The limitations are detailed in a settlement that First Gulf reached last week with Iroquois Confederacy member Wesley Elliott in return for his withdrawal of an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board that was stymying the project.

"It was a good agreement as far as we could go with it. What we wanted was to get them to come to the Confederacy council table," Elliott said Monday.

"They are not free to go ahead with construction or site preparation just yet. It's a little victory, a little step, but every little step counts."

Elliott appealed last May city council's approval of an official plan amendment allowing First Gulf, on behalf of Skyline Estate Properties Inc., to build the centre at 218-234 Henry St., where the former Chicago Rawhide plant now stands.

Agents for First Gulf would not release last week the minutes of the settlement negotiated with Elliott, who lives near Ohsweken. However, he told the Expositor on Monday that he wanted them made public.

A copy of the settlement subsequently obtained by The Expositor reveals that First Gulf has agreed not to pursue construction or site preparation before March 1.

The company also officially recognizes that the land falls within the geographic area covered by the Haldimand Proclamation of 1784 that gave six miles on either side of the Grand River to the Confederacy.

First Gulf has further agreed to:

-Enter into a consultation process with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, in which the developer will make presentations to its council and the Six Nations community in December and January and February 2007.

-Provide periodic updates to Elliott and the council about its development "to ensure there is a complete understanding of its project, including measures that First Gulf has taken and will take to protect the water, the environment and archeology of the site."

-Provide copies of its plans and supporting studies to Elliott and the Confederacy, and ensure that its consultants are available to respond to any inquiries.

-Notify the people of Six Nations periodically through local radio and newspapers of the development's status, including the site preparation and the progress of the construction project on a periodic basis through local radio and newspapers.

The agreement is not binding on the city and will not ultimately prevent First Gulf from proceeding with construction.

Nonetheless, Elliott considers it a victory because he earlier launched his appeal of council's approval on the grounds that the Confederacy was not consulted early on in the process as a legitimate authority and that a full archeological report had not be submitted.

The settlement represents an advance, he said, because it forces a consultation process with the Confederacy and the Six Nations community that would not have occurred without the possibility of a fight at the OMB.