Gravel Point Proposal To Be Decided This Week

After several years, a number of changes, and an organised opposition campaign from other Palmerston Lake residents and lake associations across the township, a proposal to develop a family compound with multiple cottages on Gravel Point is coming to Council this week for a decision.

The applicants, Amber and Craig Hall, have made some changes to their proposal in response to some of the public comments on August 12, moving one proposed cottage away from the narrow point and away from the lake, and have also eliminated a water access point, which included a dock, marine storage facility and pathway, from the environmentally sensitive bay side of the Point.

The planning report that was prepared by Jenny Kapusta, community planner with Frontenac County, on behalf of the township, recommends that the Official Plan and Zoning bylaw amendments that the Hall’s have been seeking for about 5 years, be accepted by Council at this time.

“Planning staff are recommending the approval of the Development Plan and both the Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment .... Should township Council support/adopt the proposed Official Plan Amendment, it will still need to be presented to Frontenac County Council for final approval,” is the final line in the Kapusta report.

That conclusion is supported by a detailed analysis in the body of the report, which includes confirmation that the studies prepared by consultants working for the Hall’s were peer reviewed by third party consultants before being accepted by Kapusta, in her role as the township’s planner.

Kapusta’s report also says that a holding symbol be placed on the development, pending assurances by the applicant that the private lane through which the property is accessed, “meets the emergency services access standards of the township.”

The Hall’s do not own the entire private road through which they access their property, although they have deeded access. The township cannot force the owner of the lane to bring it up to their standards.

The holding symbol will stay in place until that road is upgraded, and, according to the report “no further cottages or sleep cabins may be built,” until the holding symbol is removed.

If Council approves the plan, this week, as their planner recommends, the Hall’s will have one more hurdle to overcome.

If Council rejects the planning report, the Hall’s will have leave to appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal, but if Council accepts the report, the opponents of the project will not. This is one of the impacts of changes made by the Province of Ontario to the Planning Act, over the last couple of years.