Steve Miazga said he asked the Cootes to Escarpment Strategy steering committee if it would comment on the application. He was told no. The Royal Botanical Gardens led group of public land owners in Cootes Paradise –including the City of Hamilton and Hamilton Conservation Authority — would have nothing to say about the proposal in relation to the HCA’s plans for a new natural area on the banks of the Desjardins Canal.

“I don’t think there’s a direct impact,” Mr. Miazga said of the plan to build the storage facility just steps from the former Veldhuis Cactus Greenhouse. “What I hope to achieve is an extension of the open area going east to the RBG lands.”

He suggested public land owners around the Veldhuis site can get together to discuss the area’s future, but noted a wetland on the private property targeted for the storage business“would have to be preserved”. But conservation authority staff has already approved the placement of fill within the wetland, as well as removal of trees to meet flood-proofing requirements.

Approval of the required amendments has been recommended by City of Hamilton planning staff. A public meeting of city councilors on the planning committee to consider the recommendation is scheduled for Jan. 20. The staff report did not include any review of impacts on the conservation property, or the HCA goal of linking natural areas and habitats of several types of wildlife – including at least one at-risk turtle. The RBG declined to comment.

The conservation authority bought the former Veldhuis property, with funding from the City of Hamilton, for $260,000 on Feb. 15, 2008. The plan is to dismantle the greenhouses and other buildings on the site and keep it as a natural area, linking to RBG property across Olympic Drive.

The Veldhuis property abuts the historic Desjardins Canal.

Despite support for nearby storage buildings from staff at the HCA and City of Hamilton, at least six Dundas residents have written the Dundas Star News over the past three weeks to express concern about the storage facility within the Cootes Paradise environmentally significant area so close to the planned natural area.

Mr. Miazga said a structural assessment of the buildings on the Veldhuis site will be completed by January, along with a review of any environmental impacts of demolishing the existing structures. That information will be submitted to the city for a demolition permit specifically for the greenhouses.

There is an agreement to allow an existing business continue to operate for three years on the site. But Mr. Miazga hopes to begin the first phase of demolition next spring, removing the unused structures.

The planned self-serve storage facility would join at least five similar facilities already operating in Dundas – including Dewitt Movers & Storage at 140 King St. East, just down the street and next door to the Veldhuis property.

Several self-serve storage facilities also operate in Ancaster, west Hamilton and Flamborough as well as Hamilton mountain and downtown Hamilton. But the city has no record of how many of the storage businesses operate in the city because they do not issue business licenses to them.

The City of Barrie has licensed self-service storage facilities for the past seven years. Barrie bylaw enforcement officer Bryan Keene said there are eleven licensed facilities in that city. Each one must pay $240 a year to renew its business license.

Liability insurance

Barrie’s regulation of Self-Storage Facilities, like the one proposed for King Street East in Dundas includes requiring operators of the businesses to have $2-million of liability insurance to operate in a manner that does not disturb other businesses or residents and not allow storage of wrecked vehicles.

Barrie’s regulations also forbid anyone living in a self-storage facility, or keeping an animal in a storage unit. Businesses are banned from operating within a storage unit, and the licensee must ensure all goods are stored within a storage unit.

The licensing bylaw also permits Barrie enforcement officers to regularly inspect self-storage facilities to ensure health and safety and compliance to fire and building safety.