South Frontenac Official Plan to enter policy framework stage

Jeff Green | Sep 08, 2021

The 4th and final public session to discuss a range of issues that will underpin a brand South Frontenac Township Official Plan, was held via Zoom, in true 2021 fashion, on August 30th. The session was based on 6 discussion papers, which are posted on the Engage Frontenac web platform. The papers deal with: housing, economic development, lake ecosystems, growth management, and economic diversification.

In addition to information about how the issues captured under each topic are important to the future direction of the township, a set of options are presented for consideration.

At the meetings, the position papers were used as the basis for presentations, and then participants in the meetings were given the opportunity to tick off the policy options they preferred.

In order to provide immediate feedback, participants were provided with the results of the surveys as the meeting progressed.

One of the key policy areas that is being considered as part of the new Official Plan is the mix of housing, and the locations of new housing developments, in the township.

In general terms, participants in the public meetings were asked if they supported the policy of focusing “the majority of housing into settlement areas and limit the amount of new housing occurring in rural areas” or “Permit additional rural residential severances outside of settlement areas.”

An example of one specific policy area that may have a financial impact on rural land-holders are the rules for creating by “consent”, the relatively simple process of severing existing lots. Under the Official Plan that has been in place since 2003, up to 3 lots can be created from an existing one, by severing the lot, provided the new lots fit the township criteria for a building lot. This is the case whether the existing lot was a 10 acre lot or a 100 acre lot. One option would be to keep the system as is, and another option would be to start the clock again when the new Official Plan is approved. If that happens, property owners who have created new lots by severance since 2003, will be able to use the severance process again to create 3 new lots in the future.

This would stimulate the creation of building lots, increasing the stock of traditional single family dwellings, without requiring a costly and time consuming plan of subdivision.

Participants in the meetings were also asked if they would prefer to see policies in place that encourage rural development to occur through plans of subdivision.

Another policy area is short term rentals. Participants were asked whether they think the township should allow short term rentals, should require them to be registered through a specific bylaw, should limit or prohibit them, or permit them only in specific areas of the township.

One of the themes that emerged from the content of the meeting and the comments from the 40 or so participants at the end of the 90 minute session, was the need for added diversity in the way the township develops not only its housing stock, but commercial, agricultural and even industrial growth.

This is important not only for the township to be a better place to live and work in, but also for the ability to deliver municipal services to residents through the development of a more diverse tax base, which is currently heavily weighted towards residential taxation.

One of the goals that was accepted by South Frontenac Council, at the start of the Official Plan process in June, was to support “a wide range and scale of businesses that contribute to the vitality of our community and enhance investment in villages and rural areas of the Township.”

Claire Dodds, the Director of Development Services in South Frontenac, said that the Official Plan process was delayed somewhat in order to accommodate the virtual public input sessions, which became necessary because of COVID restrictions. Over 100 residents participated in the sessions.

“The sessions went pretty well, aside from some occasional technology glitches,” she said. “The Official Plan needs to conform the Frontenac County Official Plan and the Provincial Policy Statement, and we tried to focus on those items in the plan that can be decided locally.”

The Official Plan process will soon be headed towards the “policy framework” phase. Over the next couple of months, Dillon Consulting, the company that was hired to help guide the process, will be reviewing the material that has been gathered, including a number of studies that were done early in 2021, the discussion papers that were prepared, and the feedback that has been gathered. Working in collaboration with Development Services, they will be presenting a summary of their findings to Council. They will also propose a policy framework that will be the basis for the development of a draft Official Plan.

Council will be receiving the policy framework report before the end of 2021, and a first draft of the Official Plan is scheduled for March of 2022, when a new round of public consultations will take place.

“We are hoping that we will be able to hold in-person consultation meetings in the spring,” said Dodds,

All of the material surrounding the process is available at Southfrontenac.net by clicking on the “Engage South Frontenac – Get involved with the new official plan” box on the home page.