"It seems a little too good to be true, but we're happy with the outcome," said Tortoise Court resident Annmarie Salvalaggio just before councillors approved the staff report that turned down the application.

She was one of about 80 residents who attended Monday night's Planning, Design and Development Committee meeting where the long-awaited staff report was presented.

Planning Commissioner John Corbett told councillors at the meeting that he has never seen a proposal as thoroughly reviewed, particularly from an environmental standpoint, and that staff's recommendation to refuse it is "very clear".

"Without a doubt there's a strong technical basis to reject this application," Corbett told councillors.

The city will now have to defend that position at the OMB. The developer, Candevcon Limited/1281216 Ontario Inc., filed an appeal with the OMB in August, complaining the city did not process the application in the required 180 days. The plan was first filed with the city in 2005.

An OMB pre-hearing conference is already scheduled for Jan. 16.

The committee decision was welcomed by residents in the Castlemore area, including representatives of a group called Greenvisions which was formed out of opposition to the proposal.

However, Greenvisions President Bruce Haines has said his group wants to see the city go one step further and move to protect the golf course lands where endangered turtles and other wildlife abound.

"The message is the need to protect the natural heritage area of Castlemore," Haines told councillors as he showed pictures of large snapping turtles found near the ponds on the course, and a large mouth bass caught in one of the ponds. Haines told councillors fish and other wildlife can be found in and around the ponds.

"I think it's very important that we recognize what we have here. It's an oasis in the middle of the city," Haines said.

He commended staff and council for their work through what he called a "very long process."

Chris Barnett, representing the developer, also made a brief presentation to councillors Monday night, expressing disappointment at the decision.

"We have listened to and responded to all of the concerns that have been raised by the staff, peer review and responding agencies," he said. "Houses are permitted to be on this property."

He said the plan is "sustainable and innovative."

The plan, last revised in March, is to build 188 single detached homes on lots with frontages between 50 and 70 feet.

The staff report listed a whole host of objections, many of them environmental, which brought some praise from Sierra Club of Peel Chair Peter Orphanos.

"This is a good report that will stand up at the OMB and we will be there with you to support you," Orphanos told councillors and staff.

He said he hoped the city will investigate further the source of the water that feeds the ponds and allows fish to thrive in them.

Among the staff objections: the plan lacks protection for the integrity of the existing estate residential lots; lack of a 10 m buffer along the valley (although the conservation authority has only asked for 2 m); there are threatened species on the land- including the redside dace, which is a fish; a lack of trail connections; and stormwater management ponds can't offset the loss of natural features and functions.

Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell told residents at the meeting that their voices had been heard and made a difference in the process.

"What you say matters," she told them.

Fennell had made a promise early on that she would vote against the proposal when it came before council, and she fulfilled that promise Monday night.

"This is our city, this is a tremendous city, and we are going to protect it, all of us here together," she told the residents.