Bid to Purchase Caledon’s ‘Swan Lake’ Falls Through – What’s Next?

UPDATE: On December 16, at the last council meeting for 2025, Town of Caledon councillors voted unanimously to rescind May 13 motion that started this controversy. The motion proposed issuing a permit to Brookvalley that would allow in-fill at “Swan Lake.” In the recent meeting, Mayor Annette Groves and other councillors noted the “anxiety” that the issue has raised among the community, adding that they have decided that “this is the right thing to do.” With the motion officially opposed by all councillors, it cannot be brought back to council, noted the council clerk. 

Credit Valley Conservation’s bid to buy the lot at the southeast corner of Shaws Creek Road and Charleston Sideroad in Caledon, nicknamed “Swan Lake,” has been rejected by the owner.

“CVC can confirm that the offer presented was not successful,” Jesse de Jager, the organization’s acting director of parks, lands and community engagement, wrote in an email in early December. 

While CVC did not reveal how much it offered to Brookvalley Project Management Inc., de Jager said the bid was based on an appraisal conducted by an independent, accredited appraiser, in accordance with CVC and Region of Peel Greenlands Securement Program terms. The bid also considered the “current permitted uses for the property” and was “in keeping with values for other recent sales of similar lands in the area.”

Brookvalley Project Management director Nick Cortellucci said in a phone interview in early December that he intends to “bring back the land as farmland” after filling the lot with soil unearthed during construction of new building projects. He would then add “two to three feet of clean topsoil so we can farm the land again,” a process he said could take five to 10 years. The infill could come from other developments in the Greater Toronto Area, “as long as it’s clean fill” that has been tested by a soil engineer, he said.

Cortellucci said he has no intention of selling the land after filling it, and that he plans to keep it for future generations or rent it to farmers. “I was born on a farm,” he said.

Brookvalley is currently building Phase 2 of the Mayfield West development on about 580 acres of land in Caledon. Zancor Homes, which Cortelluci also owns, plans to develop 10 communities, including two in Caledon and three condo developments in the GTA, according to the company’s website. 

The controversy over “Swan Lake” began in May when Caledon Mayor Annette Groves brought forward a motion at a council meeting on behalf of Brookvalley that proposed “rehabilitating an old aggregate pit located on the property with fill created from their development sites across Caledon and the Greater Toronto Area.” 

This drew strong pushback from nearby residents, who have nicknamed the Shaws Creek property “Swan Lake” after the trumpeter swans and other wildlife that frequent the area. They argue the site doesn’t meet the zoning requirements for infill because it has already been fully rehabilitated. 

Cortelluci doesn’t see it that way and says calling the property a lake is a misnomer. “I don’t know why they call it a lake,” he said. “It’s a pit that’s just full of water.”

In September 2025, CVC began working with the Region of Peel to buy the land through its “Pits to Parks” program, which converts former pits into conservation areas.

At a September 29 open house, Caledon officials revisited a site-alteration bylaw that proposes new rules for infill permit approvals, delegated authority and project-size thresholds. If approved, it could ease zoning rules and open the door for infilling at former pits like “Swan Lake.”

The next Town of Caledon council meeting is on December 16. Domenica D’Amico, Caledon’s commissioner of engineering, public works and transportation, confirmed that the lot at Shaws Creek Road and Charleston Sideroad is not on the next town council agenda, and the proposed site alteration by-law is currently being reviewed following resident feedback. “No dates have been finalized on when it will come back to council,” wrote D’Amico via email.  

This story was updated on December 19.