Executive Summary:

N/A

Background:

The background to this project was previously presented to Council on September 14, 2020 in Report C 177/2020 being Schedule "A" attached. The Provincial/Division Corridor Improvements project comprise 20 road widening parcels being about three metres wide, forty guy wire easements for utility poles and ten aerial easements for ground wires. All owners were served with a Notice of Application for Approval to Expropriate and the required notice was published three times in the local newspaper. The time period for the owners to request a hearing has expired. In September, Council considered and approved the expropriation from the other 34 owners located adjacent to this project.

The only owner who requested a hearing of necessity into the taking was JBM Capital Inc. (principal officer Mr. Joe Mikhail, represented by the Kerry Laba firm). That property was not considered on September 14 for the expropriation, but was instead referred to the Chief Inquiry Officer of Ontario for a hearing. A copy of the Notice of Application for Approval to Expropriate Land as served on the owner as well as the relevant sections from the survey plans is attached as Schedule "B."

Gillian M. Burton was appointed to hear the inquiry which she conducted on September 17, 2020 by way of video conference.

Discussion:

A copy of Ms. Burton's report dated October 11, 2020 is attached for City Council's consideration as Schedule "C." Ms. Burton described the context of the proposed taking as follows:

The City’s evidence was provided by Ms. Jane He of the Engineering Department, who is Project Manager for the Provincial Corridor Management Project, resulting from the EA recommendations. She described the physical surroundings of this important intersection in the City’s history, citing its designation in the OP in the 90s as the City’s gateway and boundary with the Town of Tecumseh. The Cabana/Division Corridor is one of the important commercial/industrial corridors in the Windsor area. At present, there is greatly increasing traffic flow to over 21,000 vehicles per day on the current two-lane road.

And she concluded that:

I agree with Mr. Brode that these easements are critical to the reconfiguration of Provincial Road as the EA recommended, and Council has approved. It would not be possible to increase the number of lanes to four with one turn lane, effectively five lanes, without relocating the existing utilities. The City proposes easements only, not fee simple takings, and these would not interfere in any significant way with the