Hard-won gains in protecting the Rouge River Valley could be jeopardized by an application to build six new houses, Ward 44 (Scarborough East) Councillor Ron Moeser says.Scarborough Community Council decided this week to oppose aspects of the project at an Ontario Municipal Board hearing scheduled to start next month.
The city says the proposed new lots extend in a five-acre parcel east of Sheppard Avenue at Boydwood Lane into the valley, which is protected as part of the Rouge Park and Ontario's Greenbelt lands.
The province and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority support 30-metre natural buffers around the stable top of the valley, measured from the stable top of the river's bank.
The applicant is proposing a 10-metre buffer, which the city says is not proven to be enough to protect the natural features beyond it.
Buffers along the valley were fought over for many years at the OMB and elsewhere.
The former City of Scarborough and the TRCA once supported 10-metre buffers, but the authority has since changed its position.
Moeser said 30-metre buffers would reduce the proposed application from six lots to two.