Frontenac County Council - May 19/10

Jeff Green | May 27, 2010

Planning special of the year – Trout sensitivity à la Catch 22

Four Bridgen's Island landowners are seeing their entire investment go to nothing because of provincial environmental regulations. 

Bridgen’s Island is a horseshoe-shaped 16.5 hectare (40 acre) piece of rock on Eagle Lake in Central Frontenac Township, which was purchased by a group of nature lovers in the early 1970s.

The members of the Bridgen’s Island Association surveyed the land and created 17 building lots, which were doled out to the various members of the co-operative. The entire island was assessed as one lot by the township of the time and members of the association chipped in to pay the taxes. At the time the Township of Hinchinbrooke had only minimal environmental regulations. Nonetheless, as some Bridgen's Island members decided to build summer cottages and cabins on the island, they voluntarily refrained from making any more than minimal changes to the shoreline, and kept all structures well back from the water’s edge.

By 2003, 10 of the owners had built and 4 had not. That year, the members of the co-op were informed that the Township of Central Frontenac had adopted its first Official Plan, and were told that no more building permits would be issued for Bridgen's Island until the “situation was regularized”.

The Bridgen's Island Associates, or BIAL as they have dubbed themselves, have been working their way through municipal red tape ever since in pursuit of “regularizing” their lots, but last week they hit upon a dead end at Frontenac County, and the 4 landowners who have never built on their properties seem to be running out of options.

The BIAL have been working “hand in glove”, to quote Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski, with Central Frontenac Township since 2003 trying to sort the situation out, all the while knowing that development on Eagle Lake was restricted because the lake has been deemed a “moderately sensitive lake trout lake” by the Province of Ontario.

In 2007 that designation was changed to “highly sensitive” and with that change of wording, setbacks for buildings and septic systems on Eagle Lake were increased to 300 metres.

A “plan of subdivision”, which would have created 14 building lots on the island and imposed stringent restrictions on any future building projects, was accepted last year by Central Frontenac Township last year on he advice of their planning consultant Glenn Tunnock.

But the IBI group, planning consultants to Frontenac County, took a different view. In a report that was submitted to County Council last week, (May 19) the IBI group noted that the application for “plan of subdivision” was not submitted until early in 2008, after the “highly sensitive designation” had been established by the Province.

The IBI group concluded that the application for 14 lots should be rejected, and a 10 lot subdivision should be approved with all other lands either being incorporated into the existing 10 lots of reverting to parkland.

Frontenac County’s in-house planner, Joe Gallivan, agreed with the IBI group’s recommendations.

Members of the Bridgen’s Island Association also made a presentation to Frontenac County Council last week.

Arch Ritter is one of the four landowners who are set to lose their landowners’ rights in the IBI scenario.

“The IBI recommendations are unfair to the owners of the four under-developed lots. Our property value is reduced to zero. To use my property as an example, this is taking place after taxes have been paid on the property for 31 years. I calculate that in 2010 dollars my family has paid $62,000 for that property over the years, in total. If this IBI report is adopted by County Council, that money will be forfeited.”

Richard Clippendale, the President of the BIAL, said “all told, association members have spent $110,261.91 on the subdivision process thus far, including over $11,000 for a new survey. We seek a fair basis for agreement on a 14-lot subdivision.”

He added that the 14-lot plan had been unanimously approved by Central Frontenac Council and included provisions for restrictions on any development, including the use of privies or composting toilets, etc., which would limit any increase in phosphorous in Eagle Lake resulting from any new buildings. (Phosphorous is associated with decreased oxygenation in lake water, and lower oxygen levels have been identified as a major threat to Ontario's lake trout population. Water temperature is another factor. Trout thrive in cold, northern lakes)

Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski said, “I really feel that these people have been as cooperative as possible. They have shown tremendous leadership in terms of stewardship. They have been caught in a legal situation.”

When it came down to it, the four members of County Council indicated they felt their hands are tied.

“I don't see anywhere we can go with this,” said County planner Joe Gallivan. “The application was fielded after the highly sensitive designation came out. That being said, there are some planning tools that can essentially freeze development on a new lot”

“I don't see how we can not support our planner on this,” said County Warden Gary Davison.

Janet Gutowski proposed that a final decision be deferred, and County staff be asked to research options that would allow the new lots to be created but not built on for the foreseeable future.

Council accepted this proposal.

For Arch Ritter, this might mean he would have his lot, but might never be able to do anything with it.

According to the IBI group, there are only 2,100 lake trout lakes in Ontario, but they account for 20% of the world's lake trout population. 

Broadband project brings service to 4,200 more households, but uptake has been slow

Through an investment of over $700,000 in provincial money and $1.4 million in private sector money from internet service provider Barret Xplore, as well as $150,000 from Frontenac County ratepayers, 4,200 properties in Central and South Frontenac and Frontenac Islands now have access to wireless high speed internet.

But as of yet only 370 have signed on for the service.

Maureen O'Higgins, of Actionable Intelligence Consulting, has been managing the project since it got underway over two years ago.

She made her final report to a meeting of Frontenac County Council, accompanied by Bob Davie from Barrett Xplore, last week (May 19).

O'Higgins reported that the project's focus changed during the implementation phase, when it was learned that planned towers in Parham and Crow Lake had become redundant because North Frontenac Telephone Company had brought their phone-based high speed internet service on stream in those areas.

This, coupled with opposition to the proposed location of its Kennebec tower, made it impossible for Barrett to provide wireless service in Arden as originally planned. Instead, Barrett has offered a discount on satellite service in Arden, although that offer is not subsidized by the provincially funded project.

The project thus extended its focus to the Perth Road/Inverary area, and locations at the southwestern edge of the county.

A tower in Piccadilly has brought service to residents in the Bedford/Godfrey region as well.

On Wolfe Island, service has been extended though many regions, but certain low-lying properties could not be reached. As well, the wind turbines on the island interfere with the signal, eliminating a number of properties from the possibility of service.

The lack of uptake to the project was picked up by Frontenac County Councillor Jim Vanden Hoek. “At 370 customers, I get a cost of about $6,400 in grants for each customer,” he said.

“A lot of the money came from Barrett Xplore,” O'Higgins pointed out, “and while uptake is important, particularly for Barrett, the fact that service is available in a wider region is important for the future of the county. We also look at the decision by North Frontenac Telephone Company to expand their service as a related impact, because it was a reaction to this project. ”

A similar project is ongoing in North Frontenac Township, which was separated out from the Central and South Frontenac project to maximize access to grant money.

DIGITAL MAPPING COMING ON STREAM THIS YEAR

The Frontenac County Global Information Systems (GIS) project, long in the works, has been ramped up this year and is slated to be available to municipal staff throughout the county by the end of the summer.

The public should be able to access the service by the end of the year.

The system will be presented in the form of an online county map that will include an ever-increasing number of information layers.

David Millard, the County Information Technology Supervisor, and GIS intern Kevin Farrel are working to bring the project on stream this year, under the direction of Sustainability Planner Joe Gallivan.

For municipal purposes, the system will include the location of pits and quarries, property information and detailed road and bridge information, eventually including the location and condition of culverts and other features.

Widely available information will include the locations of public swimming and boat launches on all lakes, the location of services in hamlets, and eventually, fish habitat and water quality information as well.

“This is still early days for this, but we think it will become a useful tool for tourism-related businesses, and we will be adding layers that are of particular use to that sector over time,” said Joe Gallivan.

There is also an application in the works that is designed to aid property owners who are interested in establishing small-scale renewable energy projects.

“Property owners will be able to tell what the most suitable kind of project is, be it wind, solar, or something else, for their particular property. It will include information about the experiences of some early adopters of renewable technologies, and a list of all the incentive programs that are available,” said Gallivan.