Settlement Reached on Proposed Dance Pit Expansion

Ayr and Cambridge, Ontario. (August 13, 2025) The Township of North Dumfries and the City of Cambridge have reached agreement with CBM Aggregates (CBM) on a zoning by-law amendment that will permit an expansion of the Dance Pit, an existing gravel operation located in the Township near the Cambridge boundary. The settlement comes after an eighteen-month multidisciplinary peer review process spearheaded by the City and Township, and included expert meetings and discussions with CBM, and a presentation to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT)for approval at a settlement hearing today, August 13, 2025.

In 2021, CBM applied for an Aggregate Resources Act (ARA) licence, followed by an application for Township zoning by-law amendment in 2022, to permit an extension of extraction operations to the easterly 29 hectares of the property.  The zoning by-law amendment application was appealed to the OLT.  The City and Township, parties to the hearing process , retained experts to review the potential cumulative noise, dust and other impacts of the expanded pit. As a result of these expert reviews, and meetings with CBM, the following was achieved:

• Additional cumulative noise and air quality studies were completed to the satisfaction of the City and Township experts which confirm that the expanded site will meet all Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) standards;
• A dust management plan will apply to both the existing and expanded pit which establishes additional specific controls, monitoring and reporting requirements to mitigate dust impacts;
• Additional noise mitigation requirements for both the existing and proposed pit, have been put in place including acoustical audits and measures to reduce the sound of back-up beepers on trucks;
• All mitigation and monitoring requirements, including a berm to be constructed at the existing pit   are incorporated into enforceable licence requirements for both the existing pit and proposed pit extension; and
• The City and Township can also legally enforce these CBM commitments.

The agreed upon zoning by-law amendment that was presented to the OLT for approval today prohibits any kind of processing, crushing  or screening, in the expansion area.  The agreed-upon zoning by-law amendment establishes a 60 metre setback between the limit of extraction and property boundary abutting the City of Cambridge residential boundary, which is 30 metres greater than the minimum setback required by provincial regulation.  CBM already has approval for a crushing facility in its existing pit, but no processing is currently occurring.  The settlement requires that before it can resume, CBM must consult with MECP and obtain any required approvals.

Overall, through a cooperative and coordinated eighteen-month effort, the Township and City have both avoided a potentially lengthy and expensive contested hearing, and achieved tangible protections for potentially impacted residents over and above the protections that could be achieved through the hearing process.