Sprawling truck storage operations are blocking crucial development in Brampton; council just extended two of them

It’s only been 18 months since Brampton councillors learned how much bylaw enforcement officers were struggling to control illegal trucking operations in the city. 

These sites are destroying the environment, disrupting residents, creating noise, air and water pollution and short-changing the City on desperately needed tax revenue. Sprawling truck storage sites and massive warehouses across the city are also a major barrier to attracting the types of employers and highly skilled jobs Brampton is desperate for.

But it appears council members including Mayor Patrick Brown have forgotten everything they were told.

Last week, despite staff advising against it, they unanimously approved the extension of a zoning bylaw amendment to allow two of these truck parking operations at the intersection of Queen Street East and Sun Pac Boulevard, involving hundreds of tractor trailers, to continue for the next three years (while the City has not flagged any particular issues with these two locations, illegal trucking operations in Brampton, with the storage of trucks on land not zoned for such a purpose, have been a longstanding problem). The City of Brampton created a task force within its bylaw department to address the range of problems these operations continue to cause. 

Peel protestors rally against the proliferation of illegal truck yards in the region.

(Franca Pisani/TruckNews.com)

The recent decision to ignore the recommendation of staff  following a motion from Councillor Rod Power, came despite the advice of planning experts who wrote that allowing these operations to continue was not in line with any of Brampton’s approved planning documents, or the Provincial Policy Statement. Staff noted these sites are meant to contribute to “the creation of competitive, attractive, and highly functional employment areas.”

“Permitting an extension to the temporary bylaw negates the ability of the subject property from redeveloping in an orderly manner. The outdoor storage of trucks and trailers, as proposed, fails to provide a high-quality public space that is safe, accessible, attractive and vibrant as most of the developable area is allotted for outdoor storage,” the staff report emphasized. “The subject application does not represent good planning.”

The two truck storage sites council just approved for continued operation straddle Sun Pac Boulevard with frontage on Queen Street East. 

(Google Earth)

Both sites had the applicable zoning exception to allow the truck storage operations extended in 2022. The properties are intended for commercial and employment uses, not the storage of transport trucks. 

One, which extends from 0 to 210 to 220 Sun Pac Boulevard, received its first zoning bylaw amendment to permit truck storage on the site in 2019. The amendment is required as the intended zoning does not allow such a use. The zoning change was allowed again three years later and has now been approved once again by council. 

In 2022, council granted a similar zoning change for the adjacent site at 3420 Queen Street East. 

Both bylaw amendments expired earlier this month.

The owners of the lands were required to submit site plans to support their application to extend the zoning amendments that would allow the storage of large commercial trucks. 

City staff noted both applications were insufficient, had missing studies or necessary documents and did not align with the long-term vision for the area. Sitting along on a major arterial road and transit corridor, Brampton officials are looking at these areas as critical locations for growth.

The 3420 Queen Street East site has a total area of 4.26 hectares and sits within a “Planned Major Transit Station Area” known as the Goreway MTSA. The location is intended to support a “diverse mix of employment uses, particularly major office employment and population-serving uses,” a staff report details. These planned city features would be supported by transit to attract more employment, which Patrick Brown has claimed is a key priority. 

Extending the temporary zoning to allow the storage of up to 304 trucks would create significant barriers to development and economic growth. 

“The proposed concept plan does not contain any design elements that demonstrate how the site is pedestrian oriented or encourages a sense of place. Staff are of the opinion that the subject application does not have regard for matters of provincial interest as provided in the Planning Act.” 

A large transport truck at a Brampton intersection, a common sight throughout the city.

(Alexis Wright/The Pointer)

Since the submission of the original site plan application in 2022, numerous outstanding technical issues have not been addressed, including updates to the Traffic Impact Study to reflect current on-site conditions; submission of a tertiary plan to demonstrate the function and integration of the proposal with abutting lands; and satisfactory landscaping works along the frontages of Queen Street East and Sun Pac Boulevard to screen the proposed truck and trailer storage area.

Similar issues exist with the Sun Pac Boulevard sites. 

A site plan application for 210 and 220 Sun Pac Boulevard was submitted in June 2021. A site visit in June this year concluded that there were several issues not resolved, staff wrote. 

“The site is not in conformity with the approved Site Plan. Improvements that were required but do not seem to be implemented include a landscaping berm along Sun Pac Boulevard, curb cut dimensions, as well as trailers and trucks parked in areas not identified for storage as per the approved plans.” Staff added that a site plan submitted for the 0 Sun Pac Boulevard location in July 2024 also did not address outstanding issues. 

Despite the strong opposition from staff, the motion from Councillor Power to extend the zoning amendments received little discussion among council members during the August 11 meeting. 

Councillor Pat Fortini was the only member to raise a concern, asking about the inclusion of a buffer zone on the site development plan.

"I'm okay with the parking. The only thing is, as part of the site plan, I want to make sure we have a buffer along the street," he said during the meeting, noting the proximity to the Hyatt Place Hotel on the other side of Queen Street East.

As part of Councillor Power’s motion, the approval of the amendments is contingent on the property standards issues raised at the sites being addressed within 60 days along with the submission of a development plan within 100 days. 

The Pointer asked Councillor Power to explain his reasoning for bringing the motion forward despite the strong opposition from staff. During the meeting, Councillor Power noted it would be unlikely development would occur at these locations within the next three years, so the extension should not pose any issue.   

As of the publication deadline, he has not provided further comment.

The trucking and logistics industry has become a pillar of Brampton’s economy, which contributes roughly $2 billion to Canada’s GDP annually, according to the City’s Economic Development Office.

Brampton is located along major transportation corridors, including intermodal rail lines and 400-series highways, with the country’s largest airport, Pearson International, also partially inside the city’s boundary. With its booming transportation industry, the lack of sufficient space for parking and operating commercial transport trucks has long been a problem. Dozens of illegal storage sites have been visibly in use for years on land not zoned for such purposes. This has led to routine complaints related to traffic, zoning and environmental degradation.

Last year, The Pointer reported that 84 trucking sites were under investigation for illegal storage and parking, with violations ranging from unauthorized construction; illegal use; import and export of excess soil and fill; injury or destruction of trees without authorization; and pollution/ damage/interference to watercourses, wetlands and storm sewers. The City found numerous sites were harming natural features and biologically sensitive areas, such as floodplains and wildlife habitats, as well as damage to regional and municipal roadways and culverts.

A staff report at the time also highlighted the negative implications on the environment caused by these storage operations which can pose serious harm to conservation features such as the valley and stream corridors, flood storage and erosion control, fish and wildlife habitat, groundwater recharge and discharge and air and water quality.  

According to the Environmental Engineering Department, the damages caused on one site investigated by the City would cost $4 million to fix.

Among the reviewed locations, more than half were zoned as Agricultural and Residential Rural Estate, and approximately 40 percent were located on roadways that restrict the movement and operations of heavy trucks.

The Pointer contacted Brampton Environmental Alliance for a comment. The president, David Laing, said he is “disappointed” with the council’s decision, but did not want to comment further until he has time to understand the issue deeply.

The increasing number of unregulated sites triggered an influx of complaints from Brampton residents to the City last year, leading to the creation of a task force within the bylaw department to address the issue of illegal truck storage.

In 2023 alone, 73 complaints were submitted to the City regarding illegal trucks, trailers, and container parking, a big jump from 10 complaints in 2022.

On February 28, 2024, the City endorsed a task force and work plan to address illegal land use and development linked to oversized vehicle operations on non-designated lands.

In a separate report, staff explained the role of the task force would be to align efforts and approaches among City departments to increase efficiency and coordination. The task is mandated to educate business owners, encourage faster compliance and deter future infractions. Because of the multifaceted nature of the investigations, the report explained that an interdepartmental and multi-governmental approach is needed to “ensure that locations do not conflict with adjacent land use.”

While the Property Standards department is collaborating with internal and external partners to “enhance enforcement mechanisms and legal remedies used to cease the operations of illegal facilities and to deter future illegal land use,” the report revealed that the existing fines and penalties have failed to fix the growing problem, as business owners treat these measures as a slap on their wrist, a minor cost of doing business.

The Pointer contacted all Brampton councillors and Mayor Brown for comment on their decision to allow truck storage on the two sites for at least another three years until August of 2028. None responded.

Their decision contradicts efforts to lessen the impact of these operations on other parts of the city, while staff are questioning how Brampton can grow into the type of place Brown repeatedly claims he is creating, while in reality the trucking industry is about all that seems to be expanding.

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