North Burlington Soccer Facility Proposal Stalls After Province Scraps Its Zoning Plan

A plan to build a soccer training facility on 38.8 hectares in north Burlington has lost the approval route it was counting on. The property at 5244 No. 1 Sideroad, east of Appleby Line and north of Highway 407, sat inside the province's Parkway Belt West Plan, which allowed only low-impact agricultural uses. Most recently that meant an equestrian facility.

Turning it into a soccer facility required amending a minister's zoning order. On July 3 the province revoked the 48-year-old Parkway Belt West Plan along with five related zoning orders, including the one the owner had applied to amend. A decision posted to Ontario's Environmental Registry on August 6 confirmed the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing would not proceed with the amendment.

Gary Raulino, president of Scrosoppi FC and of Raulino Holdings Inc., which owns the property, says discussions with the province are still going. He said by email that he does not want to compromise those talks, and that he will lay out how the property would support youth sport in Halton once there is a resolution. The equestrian facility is no longer operating there.

City planning staff say uses on the site are now governed by Burlington's own zoning bylaw, and that as of August 19 the city had received no zoning or official plan amendment application for a soccer facility at the address. Burlington opposed the original proposal last year, arguing a horse facility and a soccer training facility are not comparable in scale or intensity.

An amendment to the old zoning order would have overridden provincial plans and the city's official plan and zoning bylaws. Without it, any new proposal for the property goes through the city instead.