Northern Light
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A different take on the problems with sprawl......residents of Oakville seeking to certify a class-action lawsuit against the City for approving the sprawl in North Oakville.
www.theglobeandmail.com
The lawsuit isn't over bad taste or the blocking of views, or anything to do with class politics.......
Rather.....its about flooding and flood plains.
The sprawl which has removed a great deal of permeable land that was previously farm, forest or rural in nature, has caused a lot more stormwater to run down Oakville's streams.
That in turn is causing flooding in some downstream properties, and also led to adjustments in floodplain maps.
Those map adjustments (where your property becomes party of the floodplain) may restrict your ability to make additions to your property or place a structure or pool in your backyard; they may even preclude reconstruction
of the same home, requiring a shift of; or reduction in footprint.
The result can be a relative loss of value of the home, potentially into six figures.
As such, those downstream residents, whose homes were not previously part of the floodplain, but became such, at least in part due to sprawl, are now seeking to sue.
****
Because municipalities enjoy crown immunity; which limits their liability in regards to public policy making, its not yet clear whether this litigation has legs.
But, if it does..........it could not only stifle sprawl; but impose enormous costs on those municiaplities that have sprawled in recent years.
What an Oakville dispute tells us about flood risks for thousands of Canadian landowners
Amid climate change and rampant sprawl, downstream Oakville, Ont., residents discover they may be forced to soak up the risks of expanding floodplains
![www.theglobeandmail.com](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/pf/resources/assets/meta/favicon-32x32.png?d=598)
The lawsuit isn't over bad taste or the blocking of views, or anything to do with class politics.......
Rather.....its about flooding and flood plains.
The sprawl which has removed a great deal of permeable land that was previously farm, forest or rural in nature, has caused a lot more stormwater to run down Oakville's streams.
That in turn is causing flooding in some downstream properties, and also led to adjustments in floodplain maps.
Those map adjustments (where your property becomes party of the floodplain) may restrict your ability to make additions to your property or place a structure or pool in your backyard; they may even preclude reconstruction
of the same home, requiring a shift of; or reduction in footprint.
The result can be a relative loss of value of the home, potentially into six figures.
As such, those downstream residents, whose homes were not previously part of the floodplain, but became such, at least in part due to sprawl, are now seeking to sue.
****
Because municipalities enjoy crown immunity; which limits their liability in regards to public policy making, its not yet clear whether this litigation has legs.
But, if it does..........it could not only stifle sprawl; but impose enormous costs on those municiaplities that have sprawled in recent years.