Belleville City Council has halted a proposed waterfront property transfer to a private developer, citing concerns over environmental due diligence and procedural transparency.

“What will serve the city and our waterfront continuity?. Therefore, my question to staff is, what are the steps available to us as council to take a step back from this transaction and think about what should or could happen next for this piece of waterfront property?” Brown’s query was met with applause from the gallery.. Coun.. Kelly Henderson asked city CAO Matt McDonald if a Phase 2 environmental study had been completed on the

city property and was informed no study was done.. She said she learned a privately commissioned survey was allegedly done on the land last year.. “How can it be that a third party and known developer did a survey on [this] city property when it wasn’t even on the radar in July last year?. So, that’s my first concern how that happened when we haven’t declared a surplus.” Henderson said she received an email on

September 22, 2025 from a concerned citizen asking about the property being transferred to Dirocco.. “What I did was this information, because I was fairly new back to council, I took it to the chair of the planning committee Coun.. [Paul] Carr who indicated he knew nothing about it.. Together, we took it to the CAO and we talked about it, and I don’t believe he knew anything about it either and here we are

seven months later, it’s sitting before us.. I think there’s some questions that need answering, maybe not today, but these are questions I’m going to be seeking answers to,” Henderson said.

Belleville council, waterfront land, land transfer, urban development, municipal policy, city property, public land