County OP delayed as consensus seeking continues

Jeff Green | Oct 22, 2014

After 18 months of work, and three formal drafts, the Frontenac County Official Plan was set for approval at a meeting of Frontenac County Council last Wednesday (October 15).

However the prospect of a split vote on the plan has forced a delay. The representatives on the council from South Frontenac, Mayor Gary Davison and Councilor John McDougall, both indicated they remain opposed to some of the wording in the plan, and since South Frontenac is where most of the development that is governed by the plan will be taking place, a last-ditch bargaining session of sorts has been set for this week.

“Our concern in South Frontenac is that we have a difference of opinion with the county that may not be as large as it seems. We might solve those if we delay this and hold one more meeting,” said John McDougall.

The meeting will be attended by the chief administrative officers of all the townships and the county, a representative from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, as well as county planner Joe Gallivan and South Frontenac planner Lindsay Mills. The goal of the meeting will be to bridge the gap between Joe Gallivan's third version of the plan, and Lindsay Mills' desire for a plan that preserves the independence of his own office. Mills has described the county plan as “too prescriptive and amounting to a power grab by the county.”

One of the issues that is of concern to South Frontenac is the use of the word “shall” in the plan.

Mayor Davison made reference to this in his comments at county council meeting last week, in reference to prescribed setbacks between new construction and the shoreline of lakes and rivers.

“The county plan restricts all new construction to 30 metres from the shoreline,” said Davison. “In South Frontenac we were one of the first jurisdictions to bring in the 30 metre setback over 10 years ago, but we built in some leeway, and this allows our Committee of Adjustment to make allowances for circumstances. If the County plan is approved as it is written now, we won't be able to do that.”

For his part Joe Gallivan said that the county plan will not affect South Frontenac's ability to make allowances in applying the setback rule.

“The plan does not interfere with any municipality's ability to make changes. It will be business as usual,” he said.

As far as the extra meeting, Joe Gallivan asked that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs be invited to send a representative.

“If that meeting is going forward it is essential that the province be there. If the ministry is there they will tell staff from all the townships which sections of the plan cannot be changed,” Gallivan said.

Before leaving the topic, interim county warden Dennis Doyle asked if the County Chief Administrative Officer, Kelly Pender, had anything to say about the matter.

“If I remember correctly, you have a background in planning, don't you, Kelly,” Doyle said.

“I sometimes describe myself as a recovering planner,” Pender said, before delivering a stern warning. “I certainly don't have a problem having a further meeting, but I want be clear about one thing. If this council recommends changes to the Official Plan that do not reflect the Provincial Policy Statement, which underpins all planning in Ontario, county staff will voice opposition to those changes. They would simply not fly with the province. The ministry will be clear on that point, and I agree they need to be at the meeting as well.”

The province has set a target date of March 31 for the adoption of County Official Plans throughout the Province.

As it stands, the third draft of the Frontenac County Plan does not conform to a number of demands that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs has made.

Joe Gallivan has said that he hopes to convince the ministry that the current version of the plan is based on a sound interpretation of the Provincial Policy Statement. If he cannot, the matter could well end up at a hearing before the Ontario Municipal Board, which would provide a final determination of whether the county's or ministry's interpretation of the Provincial Policy Statement is more accurate.