Lakeshore remains against large-scale greenhouses in the municipality

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Lakeshore council stands firm on its decision regarding potential large-scale greenhouses coming to the municipality.

At Tuesday’s meeting, council deferred consideration of a report on a study of a Greenhouse Business Park. According to the municipality, that would see development of a centralized location for the greenhouses.

“We recognize that we are limited in our power to reject greenhouses all together,” said Mayor Tracey Bailey.

“However, we will continue to step up and make sure that our residents’ concerns are heard and that the litany of negative impacts are addressed before greenhouses can call Lakeshore home.”

Council further requested changes to the Official Plan Amendment Number 18. It was submitted to Essex County last year and is under review.

A news release outlined that the amendments include requests for an annual review of trends in greenhouse issues for the region, an analysis of the impact of future water main expansions and trends in the price of land and demand for greenhouses in the municipality.

The interim report found that there currently is not a demand for greenhouses in Lakeshore. The contributing factors include a lack of water capacity and electricity and natural gas.

“As the report noted, Lakeshore is not positioned to facilitate the development of a large-scale greenhouse project,” continued Bailey.

“As is the case with housing growth, developing any type of industrial land use will continue to be dictated by where our infrastructure will allow it. Council will better understand the scope of the required investments in the upcoming Water and Wastewater Master Plan.”

That plan will be presented on the Oct. 8 meeting.