Mattamy – is there a pattern in your development?

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When I was taking classes in Urban Planning, I was given a project to do where we were given a blank piece of land and were told to develop it. Interestingly enough, when I did a stint at Municipal Affairs, I actually did some assessments on a sub-division that was the model for the tract of land I was given in the project.

While trying to be very creative I put the road along the edge of the ravine, with a walking area on the ravine edge. My instructor looked at the draft, liked what I had done but told me to start again. He told me he was marking this project as a developer would have it done. Done in a way that maximized the potential return from the tract of land. Scrap one draft and moved on to doing the standard “make it profitable”. When I did the assessment on the sub-division, it looked exactly like my finished project. So much for doing what looks good for the community.

Speaking of which, does Mattamy have a thing for substandard land. I’ve heard of people selling the proverbial swamp land in Florida but it seems that Mattamy buys sub-standard land (i.e. swamp), does a little earth moving and then builds on it. You can imagine the future problems – flooding, excess settling and bugs.

Appears that a Gail Moorhouse down Cambridge way pointed out that they had a mosquito problem in a certain sub-division built by Mattamy on the edge of a swamp – The Portuguese Swamp.  This from the Cambridge Citizen.

“In 1989 the Portuguese Swamp was cited as a reason that a new subdivision should not be allowed to proceed… This objection was noted but did not stop the construction of the Mattamy Townline subdivision which started in 2002.”

So, Mattamy was told they shouldn’t build on or near the swamp but they did.  Now  do you see how they can sell cheaper.  They buy cheap land on or near swamp land and then build on this unsavoury property and keep the costs down to make sure they can undersell their competition.  Kind of like Ford or GM buying cheap steel to save but the consumer ends up with rust.

She brings up a good point.  Have Mattamy pay to correct the mosquito problem either directly or through development fees.  Maybe they should have put a warning on their sales brochures that the area was susceptible to mosquitos and possible diseases (West Nile anyone).

Is this a one of?  Bracebridge had the flooding basements and in Ottawa, they built illegal berms.  In Ottawa they also tried to sell houses that were on land susceptible to flooding.  And lets not forget the Milton scam – construction on toxic waste.

Ah yes, good old Mattamy.  Build the dream with the built-in horror story.

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Mattamy endorses hunting endangered tadpoles!!!!!!!!!!!

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“Tadpole Hunting Season Opens May 1st”

So read the headline in the Mattamy centrefold for the ad regarding Seaton.   In my last post I poked a little fun at Mattamy for sending kids out to hunt down these dangerous predators. Predators?  Go to this link and learn about killer tadpoles if you want.

But, on a more serious note, we do understand Mattamy’s lack of committment to the environment and human health.  In Milton, they began construction on land fertilized with human waste.  In Oakville, they sold a house will electrical wiring that was against the code.  In Bracebridge, leaking basements and in Ottawa, they built illegal berms that had the potential of causing environmental damage.  So much for Mattamy’s committment to the environment.

Now, in Seaton, they are advertising that starting May 1st, kids can go out and hunt tadpoles.  Cutsey and something from a by-gone era when we didn’t know better.

“There have been public reports of catastrophic tadpole die-offs in several bodies of water within Ontario.”

This is a quote from Trent University’s Tadpole Monitoring report.

They note that there is a world-wide decline in tadpoles and the result could affect human’s and their relationship with the environment in the future.

Sort of shows Mattamy’s true colours when it comes to homeowners, the environment and the future of both.  Their running record isn’t something I’d be proud of and their ads concerning tadpole hunting just shows the type of arrogance some of us have experienced in terms of our Mattamy experience. 

It hasn’t been all flowers and welcoming parties.

I guess Mattamy’s idea of a “wonderful family community” is one that doesn’t include tadpoles being left alone. 

I forgot.  A Mattamy Homes subdivision destroyed a provincially significant wetland in Hespeler Ontario (Cambridge).The wetland contained 276 species of plants and 177 species of wildlife. Now it is a subdivision. According to the Forbes Wetland webpage.

“Mattamy Homes is a “seagull developer”….they fly in, CRAP on everything, and then leave…” Jennifer West Burton

 NOTE:  MATTAMY DOES NOT PUT THIS INTO ITS AD.  PLEASE, TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT WATER SAFETY IF YOU’RE GOING TO FOLLOW MATTAMY’S ADVICE AND SEND THEM DOWN TO THE CREEK TO DO TADPOLE HUNTING, ESPECIALLY DURING SPRING RUNOFF.  ADULT SUPERVISION MIGHT BE THE THING TO DO.  MATTAMY DIDN’T CARE ABOUT MY CHILDREN’S SAFETY, NOR DID THE TOWN OF OAKVILLE,  WITH THE ILLEGAL WIRING BUT, I DO CARE ABOUT YOUR CHILDREN’S SAFETY.  MAKE SURE THEY ARE PROPERLY SUPERVISED AND INSTRUCTED.  I HAVE GOOD MEMORIES OF MY YOUTH AND BACKYARD STREAMS BUT ALSO SCARS FROM SOME CLOSE CALLS.  ENJOY THEIR YOUTH.

 

 

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