2026 Town of Kingsville Municipal Election - Questions for Town Staff

The Town's soccer fields are heavily used throughout the season and, like any municipal asset, require ongoing maintenance and periodic rehabilitation to remain safe, playable, and sustainable over the long term. As part of the Town's long-term strategy, a comprehensive assessment of the soccer fields was completed in 2026, confirming issues such as heavily compacted soils, poor drainage, uneven grading, and declining turf conditions on several fields. 

Based on the findings, Administration is implementing a phased rehabilitation program that includes drainage improvements, grading to improve field drainage and surface consistency, soil restoration, irrigation enhancements where appropriate, and reseeding to establish healthy turf. The work will be integrated into the Town's annual field resting schedule, with two fields taken out of service each year to allow for proper rehabilitation and recovery while minimizing impacts to user groups and maintaining field availability throughout the season.

Administration continues to work closely with the Town's long-standing soccer organizations to coordinate field use, communicate rehabilitation schedules, and balance field availability with the need to protect these important recreational assets.

As participation and community needs continue to grow, Administration will continue to monitor field conditions, usage levels, and future demand to help guide additional field improvements, potential expansion opportunities, and long-term capital planning. This phased approach allows the Town to make steady, sustainable improvements while extending the life of its existing soccer field inventory.

-Nada Tremblay, Director of Parks and Recreation

We have certainly heard and read much in the media regarding AI Data Centres, especially those large centres that require municipalities to consider the impacts to infrastructure and the natural environment.

In answer to your specific questions:

1. The Town of Kingsville has not been approached by any developer or the province on the building of an AI Data Centre.
2. Kingsville’s zoning by-law does not allow large Data Centres in any of our zones, so we would require a rezoning and this would provide us an opportunity to study any environmental issues, noise, or other impacts as well as the economic, employment, and other factors.
3. If a proposal is received, administration would provide recommendations to Council for decision based on the scale and scope of the project. Until we have an application before us, it is difficult to set rules that may or may not apply to the scale and scope of the project. A smaller project might be less problematic than the larger AI Data Centres which are making headline news.

Residents should know that steps are being taken to study the effects and impacts of AI Data Centres in Essex County. On July 13, 2026, the Town of Kingsville Council, by way of motion by Deputy Mayor Kim DeYong, requested that the County of Essex undertake a review and study of land use policies in relation to AI Data Centres. Deputy Mayor DeYong then made a motion which is scheduled for discussion at the Essex County Council meeting of August 5, 2026. The motion asks County administration to review land-use planning policies and gather information about the infrastructure, energy, and community impacts associated with AI data centres. For a news article on this item see here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/essex-county-data-centre-study-9.7288794

- Director Richard Wyma and CAO John Norton

The decision of the Court is a public document and can be found here: Evers v. The Town of Kingsville, 2026 ONSC 4204 (CanLII), <https://canlii.ca/t/km572>

In 2008, the Town of Kingsville sold all its shares in ELK Energy to the Town of Essex. News reports in July 2026 indicate that the Town of Essex recently received $21.9 million in net proceeds from the sale of the company to ENWIN Utilities. The Town of Kingsville will not receive any compensation or any portion of the proceeds from this sale.

- John Norton, Chief Administrative Officer

Thank you for the question. The Town issued a building permit for the relocation of the house at 183 Main Street East in July of 2024. The permit included the construction of a new foundation, the relocation of the house, and the reconstruction of the sewer and water services. As with all building permits in Ontario, this permit is subject to the Ontario Building Code regulations established by the Province of Ontario. The Building Code does not prescribe specific construction timelines; therefore, the owner and contractor are not required to complete the work within a set timeframe under the Building Code. 

The Town of Kingsville Building Department has a process in place to address dormant or inactive building permits. This project has not yet met the legislated threshold to be considered inactive, but we will take action should that timeline expire.

- Robert Frias, Chief Building Official

In 2018, Council gave approval for this location (adjacent to the Kingsville Golf and Country Club) to have two six-storey condominiums, each with 48 units, and additionally a low-rise hotel.

In 2023, the developers applied for approval for a scaled down development – 26 semi-detached condominium units instead of the two six-storey condos and hotel. Though the proposed development changed, the semi-detached dwellings still fit within the official plan and zoning regulations, so no additional approvals by Council were required. 

At around the same time, in 2022, the Province passed Bill 109, the More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022, which required Councils to delegate approval of Site Plan Control to staff. This meant that Site Plan Control applications were no longer presented to Council for discussion or approval and are now reviewed and approved at the Administrative level. The Town has set up internal review teams to ensure that servicing, stormwater, and other planning issues are still addressed prior to approval. 

Planning services did require the developer to host a Public Information Centre in July 2023 to share the revised proposal with the community and hear any issues or concerns that we can then capture in the Site Plan Agreement. For example, the Site Plan Agreement requires that the developer install construction fencing and screening, manage dust during construction, uses the Golf Course entrance as their primary construction access after servicing and stormwater management has been completed among other requirements. 

During construction, residents can raise concerns or issues with the Town at Requests@Kingsville.ca, which will flag concerns that staff can investigate, work with the developer to correct as needed, and report back to the resident. It has been a useful tool to help us minimize construction impacts on the community. 

A municipal-wide prohibition on overnight on-street parking is not well suited to the Town. Kingsville’s streets and neighbourhoods have unique layouts and landscapes. Many subdivisions have homes with limited space for parking on private property, but there is space for on-street parking. 

There are procedures in place to clear cars parked on streets that impede traffic or hinder the Town's ability to complete municipal operations. For example, on-street parking prohibitions are announced for snow removal or community events in accordance with Town By-laws, or residents can contact the OPP to report parked cars that are blocking traffic.

Residents may request parking prohibitions for their street. Public Works and Engineering review each request using site evaluations, best practices, and technical standards to determine if the request is appropriate. If the request is supported by objective data, the prohibition is recommended to Council for incorporation into the Town’s Traffic By-law and enforced by the OPP and By-law officers.

Administration believes it is important to take an objective case-by-case approach to on-street parking, rather than imposing town-wide restrictions. Ultimately the elected Council makes the final decisions in these matters.

Thank you for this additional question. This response should be considered in conjunction with the previous question and answer provided on this topic.

With respect to the extent to which greenhouse operations impact costs borne by other ratepayers, including investments in water and wastewater infrastructure, road networks, and other municipal services, it is difficult to quantify these costs with precision. However, it is clear that greenhouse operations place significant demands on municipal infrastructure and available service capacity. These operations consume substantial volumes of treated water, generate the most wastewater discharges, and contribute considerable heavy truck traffic on roads that were not originally designed to accommodate such sustained levels of truck transport. As a result, new infrastructure needs to be built and existing infrastructure needs more frequent maintenance, representing costs that amount to tens of millions of dollars.

As noted previously, the agricultural property class, which includes greenhouse operations, only contributes approximately 7% of total municipal property tax revenue. This places a significantly greater share of the municipal tax burden on the residential, commercial and other industrial sectors. Many residents view this as inequitable, particularly given that other industrial properties are taxed at more than double the residential tax rate, while farms and greenhouses are taxed at a rate that is capped at just one quarter of the residential rate.

The Town has raised this concern with provincial officials on numerous occasions. This advocacy has included two formal resolutions presented at municipal conferences, in addition to ongoing discussions and direct conversations with government representatives. Additional conversations and advocacy will continue as opportunities arise.

The Town has tried to address increased costs by asking greenhouses to pay more for wastewater discharge into the over-capacity sewers in Ruthven. The Town is currently involved in legal proceedings commenced by the greenhouse sector regarding these increases to wastewater rates. As these matters remain before the courts, the Town is awaiting judicial direction on the extent to which these measures are authorized and enforceable. If the courts determine that these costs cannot be recovered through increased wastewater rates for greenhouse operations, the resulting costs would need to be funded from other available revenue sources, such as residential taxpayers.

• John Norton, Chief Administrative Officer

This is a great question, and we thank you for asking it.

The Town does not build housing or have influence over how fast it gets built. In many cases, home builders within approved subdivisions await home buyers willing to purchase a new home. As the economy and housing market have changed, fewer homes are being built compared to a few years ago because there are fewer buyers.

You have made a good point that if homes are not being built quickly, maybe we should not allow new subdivisions to be approved.

This is a complex question and not fully within the Town’s control.

The Town participates in a planning process for new subdivisions that involves policies created by the provincial government, the County government, and private sector developers and builders. The provincial government has made new housing one of its provincial priorities and amended legislation in a manner that restricts the Town’s ability to slow approval of new subdivisions. Additionally, private sector developers and builders have the right to approval of new subdivisions where they meet requirements. In these instances, if the Town rejects a subdivision, the private developer can appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal and likely win approval.

The Town is using its tools to ensure that plan approval results in new homes constructed. We have implemented a “use it or lose it” approach to subdivisions so that existing Town infrastructure, such as sewer and water capacity, are not tied up in a project that is never built. That said, construction of housing in a subdivision is a many-year process, and it is difficult to remove approvals from developers who have invested their own money and meet requirements for approval.

We agree that new subdivisions should not be approved anywhere and everywhere. The Town is just now completing a review of the boundaries of residential lands, in contrast with agricultural lands, which are to be protected for agricultural uses. This process involves ensuring there is an adequate supply of lands for residential development for the coming decades so that we can plan for infrastructure, such as roads and sewers, to support those new developments. This is a multi-decade planning approach. The goal is to have enough lands for development but not too much lands – trying to find the right balance between having enough and not having enough.

- Richard Wyma, Director of Planning and Development Services