Schneider Family Lands donation to rare charitable reserve

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Schneider family land donation stuck in municipal red-tape (CBC)

Two excerpts below.  The Township wants the parking lot 'following "provincially regulated municipal best practices"', while the GRCA would be unlikely to approve the parking lot due to the wetland.  Luckily (I write sarcastically), the province has shown its disdain for wetlands, so this should be a slam dunk.

Stephanie Sobek-Swant is the executive director of rare Charitable Research Reserve.

She says the township wants the Schneiders to first build a parking lot on the land before donating it.

"The Schneider family has been very clear right from the get go that they are not in favour of [building a parking lot] and that they would not permit that," Sobek-Swant said.

"We've also have word from the GRCA who said it would be very difficult from an engineering perspective to even build there because it's mostly wetland in the areas that's close to the road and they would likely also not even give permission to do it."

The Township of Wilmot sent CBC News a statement saying it's following "provincially regulated municipal best practices" when dealing with the Schneider family land.

"While we are immensely grateful for this generous donation to the rare Charitable Reserve, we must follow best practices and apply the same requirements we would apply to anyone in Wilmot," the statement said.

"In this case, there has been an application for an amendment to the Township's zoning bylaws and it was concluded a parking solution is required to ensure the safety of local residents and limit taxpayers' liability."

The township also noted that it plans to continue to try and find a solution by working with the Schneider family and the city of Waterloo, which also borders the land in the middle of the dispute.