Official Plan battle may define Frontenac County

Jeff Green | Feb 18, 2015

One thing that North, South and Central Frontenac all have in common is lakes. There are large and small lakes everywhere and in between there are more creeks and swamps than patches of land.

Now those waterways are binding the townships in opposition to the Province of Ontario. The three townships, and Frontenac County itself, all are or soon will be at loggerheads with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs over two provisions in their respective Official Plans.

Official Plans are deathly dry documents but they do provide the basis for all the local rules that anyone who wants to do something as simple as build a shed or expand their front deck is obliged to adhere to. Since just about all the economic development in Frontenac County is based on people living in houses on water or rural lots and making their lives here, the rules that govern what can be built where are essential.

North and Central Frontenac ran afoul of the ministry a few years ago when they refused to pass Official Plans that prohibited future development on private lanes. The reason they refused was that it would mean that the vast potential of people migrating to the townships and falling in love with the land and the rural lifestyle, would be cut back to almost nothing. Only developers with deep pockets who are able to use urban planning tools such as Plans of Subdivision would be able to do business in Frontenac County.

While that model works in a small part of the county at the southern edge, i.e. within a 15-minute drive of the City of Kingston, most of South and all of Central and North Frontenac would be left with little chance of attracting new residents.

A second issue came to light last week, and this one affects South Frontenac first but will undoubtedly be applied to the rest of the county and beyond if the ministry has its way. All development within 120 metres of a body of water is to be restricted. That is what the Ministry of Municipal Affairs is recommending for the new South Frontenac Official Plan. In order to build within 120 metres of a water body a bunch of studies would need to be done, and zoning and Official Plan amendments would need to be secured. All of these add costs and time, so instead of promoting ourselves as a place to come and build a life in a place of natural beauty within driving distance of major cities, we will be putting up hurdles designed by a government that has no idea what this county is all about.

To put the 120 metre setback into perspective, residents of Verona, Sydenham, Ompah, and certainly Sharbot Lake would find it very difficult not only to build new houses, but even to extend their front deck 10 feet.

We have chronicled some of the disputes between the planning departments of Frontenac County and South Frontenac in recent months, but it just makes sense for all the collective resources within Frontenac County to be mustered together to make a strong case to be brought to the Ontario Municipal Board, which is where this dispute with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs is inevitably headed.

The province has a lot of money - and some of that money is our money, by the way - to fight us on this. We need to stick together to fight back.