Huge financial blow to city as council renounces Spring Garden legal fight

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The city council has terminated after two decades of legal battles with a local family over the fair price of the land expropriated to create the Spring Garden natural area, a defeat expected to cost “more than $ 20 million.”

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“The council has decided that we are not going to move forward,” city attorney Patrick Brode told Star Tuesday, referring to an on-camera decision made by the council on Monday. That was the deadline to request permission to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada the October loss in the Ontario Court of Appeals, which denied the city’s authorization to appeal a previous judicial loss. The chances of convincing the Supreme Court to allow the city to go ahead with an appeal were believed to be slim.

While Brode said he couldn’t argue with what was said on camera, he said: “It didn’t seem to make any sense to keep appealing. The city had its point of view but the courts have spoken ”.

The implications are daunting for the city, which must now pay the Paciorka family $ 6.2 million, less what it already paid over the years, including the original price it paid for the expropriation plus any subsequent payments. But the consequences are even more serious. Mayor Drew Dilkens has said the ripple effect of losing this case could cost “more than $ 20 million” because the approved land valuation for the Paciorkas could help many other homeowners whose properties were expropriated around the same time create the natural area, called Area of ​​natural and scientific interest.

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The Spring Garden Natural Area, part of the Ojibway Prairie Complex, will be seen on Thursday, November 18, 2021.
The Spring Garden Natural Area, part of the Ojibway Prairie Complex, will be seen on Thursday, November 18, 2021. Photo by Dax Melmer /Windsor Star

City officials said Tuesday that the $ 20 million figure is a rough estimate and the exact financial impact has yet to be determined.

On Tuesday, Brode said the appeal request stemmed from a Local Planning Court of Appeal decision that awarded Paciorkas $ 2.8 million plus interest on some portions of that money dating back to 1997. “At first glance, (the decision ) really applies to all properties in Spring Garden ANSI, ”he said. But he added that the land price assigned to the Paciorka land will not be the price of the other land. The Paciorkas had a couple of large parcels of land that they intended to develop into residential subdivisions, while most of the other owners had much smaller parcels that the court valued at a lower rate, he said.

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The mayor was out of town on Tuesday, but provided a short statement:

“No current member of the Windsor city council was around the table when those decisions were made,” he said. “But this council will fulfill its legal obligation.”

A full report on the financial implications will be prepared and presented to the council “in due course,” he said. Brode said he did not know how much the city owes the family.

For the Paciorkas, the council’s decision to end the appeal search represents the end of a very long journey, said family attorney Jason Beitchman.

“I can only imagine they are excited and relieved,” said Beitchman, who had not yet spoken with his clients.

Spring Garden is now considered an environmental gem that is part of the Ojibway Complex, with multiple endangered species. But a century ago it was part of a large strip of rural land on the west side designed for subdivisions with 6,500 30-foot lots created. That residential development never materialized once the Depression hit. In the late 1970s, Spring Garden was part of 700 acres slated for residential development – 3,598 housing units with a future population of 12,500 to 13,000. The push to create Spring Garden ANSI began in 1983 and was completed in the 2000s.

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Although the first expropriation of the Paciorkas’ lands began in 2004, they had started building their properties many years before. In the mid-1990s, the city resisted family member Bruce Paciorka’s efforts to develop the land, which sought to turn it into a wilderness area, according to Beitchman. “So for more than 20 years, their properties have been frozen.”

When the city decided to expropriate, it reasoned that the price of the land should be based on its value as environmental land that could not be built, about $ 100 per foot of frontage. The Paciorkas argued that it should be valued at the price of residential land, about four times what the city offered.

“I don’t want to speak for (Bruce Paciorka), but it clearly paid off for him throughout the entire process,” Beitchman said. “He believed that he had the right to fairness and justice. That’s why he fought for 20 years. “

He said Paciorka should be commended for his bravery.

“Because it was not easy. It was a long battle and we are talking about a small family here, we are talking about individuals who fought for what they believed was fair for 20 years and the courts agreed with them. “

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Reference-windsorstar.com

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