Bradford residents are set to have more input on any future special events in town.
Council voted to adopt a new version of the special events bylaw recently, which will now require organizers of any event with more than 2,000 expected attendees to meet with the director of growth services as well as participate in a separate public information meeting — all before council can make a decision whether to grant the event permit.
That came in response to an amendment from Ward 4 Coun. Joseph Giordano, who wanted consistency throughout the bylaw, rather than different thresholds for different requirements.
“If there was a large-scale event that took place, the public should have their say,” he said.
Previously, the bylaw was only set to require a meeting with the director if more than 5,000 people were expected at an event and only to require the public information meeting if more than 10,000 people were expected.
The amendment is just one more change to the bylaw which is also set to prohibit events of more than 2,000 people from occurring more than once every 10 years on any property outside the settlement boundary, Highway 400 employment lands or town-owned lands.
Only Ward 1 Coun. Cheraldean Duhaney, Ward 2 Coun. Jonathan Scott and Mayor James Leduc voted against the amendment, similar to the Feb. 4 meeting vote over the 10-year restriction. Deputy Mayor Raj Sandhu was absent, but had also previously voted against the restriction.
While there was no conversation or debate from councillors at the previous meeting, several residents attended to voice both support and concern for the update, which would prevent Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at (AMJ) Canada from hosting the 2025 Jalsa Salana convention at its 3078 Line 11 property.
That followed the Jan. 21 recommendation for the 10-year restriction, based on an amendment from Ward 3 Coun. Ben Verkaik, who explained it was to “protect our agricultural lands,” after he heard updated figures about the rate at which farmland is being lost in Ontario — about 129 hectares per day, based on figures from Statistics Canada.
Based on a Jan. 21 report from chief administrative officer Geoff McKnight, the town has only issued eight special event permits since 2008, and only two were on agricultural properties — both for AMJ’s Jalsa Salana convention, including a pilot event in 2022 at 3999 Sideroad 10 and the first full-scale outdoor conference in Bradford in 2024 at 3078 Line 11.
In addition to Verkaik’s amendment, McKnight’s report had already recommended several other changes to the bylaw, including moving the management of these permit applications from the parks department to growth services, ensuring the owner of the property is responsible for the event, requiring increased insurance, increasing permit fees and clarifying some terms.
It was then that McKnight also recommended adding the requirements of meetings with staff and public information meetings.