Schneider family land donation approved by Wilmot council

Part of the 230 acres of Schneider family land in Wilmot Township can now be donated to Rare Charitable Research Reserve.

A new staff report was presented to council Monday recommending that council endorse year-round and seasonal parking restrictions on Carmel-Koch Road, Wilmot Line and Berlett’s Road. Other changes include traffic calming measures at Wilmot Line and Wideman Road and speed reduction and heavy truck prohibitions on Wilmot Line.

Kevin Thomason is the Vice-Chair of the Grand River Environmental Alliance and a delegate at Monday night’s meeting told The Mike Farwell Show Monday that while council dropped the requirement of a parking lot, there were still some surprises in the latest staff report.

“They are removing almost all on-street parking for roads and kilometres in every direction, which is a challenge because most parking happens on these roads now,” he said.

Thomason pointed to the dramatic speed limit reductions around the lands where he believes it lacks consistency and logic in some cases.

“They are kind of random and seem illogical,” said Thomason. “Some are 40, some are 50, some are 60, some other roads are still at 80. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of logic or consistency to things.”

Thomason added that there is a new intersection being proposed at Wilmot Line and Wideman Road that could actually make things more dangerous.

“It’s in a hilly location with really limited sightlines,” he said. “I think we need to make sure that these solutions that are being put in, decrease liabilities and make things safer and not actually increase liabilities and make things more challenging.”

The donation has been in the works since 2020 but needs to happen while 94-year-old matriarch Jane Schneider is still living.

“We definitely need to get this done,” said Thomason. “This is a donation that the Schneider family has been working on for more than 20 years to figure out how to best protect these lands for the long-term and to ensure that they will survive for future generations and how to do that.

Thomason’s concerns were echoed by other community members, but the only amendment made will make staff come back to council in October with more solutions for winter parking.