Central Frontenac Council Re-Zoning at Silver Lake

Craig Bakay | Dec 08, 2021

At issue is a request to rezone a portion of a parcel of land at Part Lots 17 and 18, Concession 5 and Part Lot 18 Concession 6, geographic Township of Oso (the west end of Silver Lake) from an Environmental Protection Zone (EP) to a Rural (R) Zone to allow for development (construction) of a dwelling that is intended to be a staff residence building in association with a potential recreational commercial development.

The rezoning would be 1.68 acres of a parcel that’s 194.7 acres in total.

The property owners, Judith Smith and her son Ryan, want to put up five small (four-person sleeping capacity each), off-grid cabins, a communal washroom/shower setup with septic as well as a staff cabin closer to the lake, where Ryan would live while serving as on-site custodian.

Smith said that since buying the property a couple of years ago, she has observed people “using it as dumping ground and community playground (including campers and snowmobilers/ATVers).”

She said the reason for locating the staff cabin where it is was for “some degree of privacy.”

She said there is an older large barn on the property that they are renovating and that cabin renters would have access to the lake, although just where and how is yet to be determined.

In planner Jenny Kapusta’s report, she noted that concerns already raised by the community (and echoed in the public meeting) include:

• Silver Lake is designated as an at-capacity lake trout lake, further development will negatively impact water quality

• Applicants constructed a roadway and beach in a wetland area (disputed by Smith as she said that existed when she bought it, but two callers said they’ve observed trucks bringing in sand after the time of purchase).

• Environmental impact of rezoning an EP to Rural; why not just build in the rural zone?

• Species at risk may be impacted by construction of new dwelling and campground development.

• Limited details on existing and proposed septic servicing.

• Incomplete information on existing structures.

• This will make the third campground on Silver Lake.

• Will Ministry of Transportation Ontario require traffic turn lanes on Hwy 7 to accommodate increase in traffic?

• Limited details on future development plans.

• Proposal does not conform to Township or County Official Plans

• No Environmental impact assessment done, on a slope stability study

• Emergency vehicle access to campsites may be challenging

• Impact on surrounding property values.

And at least two commentors objected on philosophical grounds.

“Why are we even considering using environmentally protected land?” said Peter McMahon.

“Environmentally protected land should be a sacred cow,” said Hugh Voogt.