Addington Highlands OP Severance Challenge
Addington Highlands Council received an update about their pending Official Plan (OP) from Mark Touw, Principal of the Boulevard Group, who have been working with council on an OP update over the past year. Council met in a special session with Touw back on September 9, for over 2 hours.
The update came in the form of a letter from Touw regarding 5 outstanding items in the update that require council decisions before he can go and ahead and finalize the document, which will then be submitted to Lennox and Addington County for review, and final approval.
The first of the items in Touw’s letter related to the number of consents, “the ability to obtain additional severances from landholdings”.
He said this was an “ongoing issue with many municipalities, rural municipalities in particular, because, as we all discussed, we don’t necessarily see a lot of growth in settlement areas, whereas rural areas become more the place where development, new development, tends to happen, particularly lot creation and new construction.”
In his letter, Touw presented three options for council to consider on the matter. Option A is to increase the number per property from the current amount, which is 3 (2 new lots and a retained lot), to 4 (3 new and 1 retained). The second option relates to the start date that the consent rule is based on. Currently the date is 2004 – when the fist Addington Highlands Official Plan was adopted, and the proposal is to move to a later date “potentially the date of adoption of the Updated Official Plan (2025). The third option, option C, is to adopt both option A and option B.
Touw recommended that council adopt option A. He said that, in his discussions with the County of Lennox and Addington over the last couple of years, they have been “fairly reluctant to take off all restraints, and to be really aggressive in permitting the creation of new lots, and that’s why I recommend option A, because it is the option that is the most likely to be supported by the County.”
He then said that it is up to council to direct him on the matter, and he would discuss a more aggressive stance regarding new severances with the county if that is the wish of council, but it might not be successful.
Councillor Hook said he was interested in option b, are they any pitfalls or disadvantages to it.
“No disadvantage, but it is not something we’ve seen in Official Plan updates over the last, way five years, they typical change has been to add one more. It’s seen as a reasonable, defensible, not very controversial increase. We have not seen any municipalities re-set the clock, because it is seen as aggressive, you are going from 2 plus one, to 6 plus 1, effectively.
The most likely way to create more lots that will be created with option a, is to allow an additional severance on county roads, or major township roads.
Councillor Helen Yanch said “people should be able to make use of their land. Say they have 500 acres, they should be able to create more than 3 new lots for their children or their grandchildren. They have a right to that.
Tony Fritsch said maybe it is possible to add severances on major lots, with a minimum frontage. “You would not want houses along 50-foot strips along a road, that would create a look that we would not necessarily want.”
“I agree with Helen. Say someone had 500 acres, with enough road frontage. It would be nice to see you would have the possibility of doing 6 or more lots on a large property,” said Councillor Kirby Thompson.
Patricia Gray, the planning co-ordinator for the township, said there is always the option of creating a subdivision, where you can create more lots.
“Subdivisions are pretty complicated,” said Councillor Ken Hook. “It is almost like we are putting in an additional barrier”
“Subdivisions are very rare, in rural areas, to be honest,” said Touw.
Deputy Mayor Tony Fritsch proposed a motion for council to a modified version of option A, permitting the creation of 5 lots from a single lot, 4 new lots plus the retained lot.
“Premier Doug Ford said build more homes faster, and here we are restricting lot development. So I agree with Tony. At least this is something.”
Councillor Yanch said that she finds it very frustrating.
“I’m very concerned that we always seem to be taking direction from the province, when I know they don’t understand rural communities at all. I think 5 is better than what he had before, but I think the County should recognize that we know, or should know what is best for our township. It just doesn’t sit well with me. I’m just a tad annoyed.”
Deputy Mayor Fritsch adjusted his motion, to permit 5 lots per property in settlement areas, and 5 lots per property in the rural area, with a larger minimum lot size and an increase in minimum road frontage in rural areas, and excluding waterfront areas.
Touw’s proposed wording on the next three items in his letter was approved by council in all cases, although there was some debate.
The final proposal was for the OP to “remain silent on Short Term Accommodation (STAs) and they continue to be treated as residential that is rented for varying lengths of time ((e.g. standard rentals, cottage rentals, etc.)
Council approved this. Touw will return later in the fall with a draft Official Plan for council consideration.
Fall in Flinton and Santa Claus Parade
Council approved exemptions to the noise bylaw for the upcoming Fall in Flinton Alzheimer’s fundraiser and for the Santa Claus Parade in Northbrook.
Ontario Community Infrastructure Funding
Addington Highlands will received $125,000 in funding under the Ontario Community Infrastructure Funding (OCIF) Program for the 2026 budget year, an increase of $25,000 over 2025. The township also benefits from OCIF payments made to Lennox and Addington County, which support the county road network, including County Road 29. L&A received just over $1million from OCIF last year
