First Draft of New South Frontenac Official Plan

Wilma Kenny | Jun 01, 2022

South Frontenac’s Council were introduced to the first draft of their new Official Plan (OP) on May 24. Township planning staff began the process with public consultations in mid-2019; the process was put on pause during the height of Covid, and continued in March ’21, when Dillon Consulting was engaged.

Chief presenters were Claire Dodds, Director of Development Services, and Rory Baksh of Dillon Consulting. They describe the 218-page OP draft as “a dense document which takes time to read and digest.” The intent of this meeting was to introduce the document and mapping and outline major themes, and areas of change from the current Official Plan. Council will then have three weeks to review the document and then will meet with the Official Plan Review Team at the June 14, 2022 Committee of the Whole meeting to ask questions and provide feedback on the draft Official Plan. The intent is to follow that with another round of public engagement and review by external agencies such as the Conservation Authorities, adjacent municipalities, Provincial Ministries, etc. “It is anticipated … the current draft will continue to evolve as further input is incorporated into the document.”

The current OP was adopted in 2000, and since then there have been numerous changes and updates in the Provincial Planning Act, and the County’s official plan which need to be addressed in this Township document.

The below list outlines major policy additions or changes in the new draft Official Plan:

• Vision, Goals and Guiding Principals
• Building Relationships with Indigenous Communities
• Growth Allocation (Set targets for growth in settlement areas and rural areas)
• Employment lands policies and designation of land in settlement areas
• Affordable Housing ( Additional Dwelling Units / Tiny Houses / Live/Work Units / Garden Suites);
• Waterfront Development (New policies for changes to non-complying and non-conforming waterfront development)
• Sustainability, Climate Change and Renewable Energy policies
• Agriculture (Agricultural systems definition applied to designate prime agricultural land/Agricultural uses, value-added and on-farm diversified uses supported/Consents in agricultural designation limited to what is permitted by the Provincial Policy Statement.)
• Rural (Strengthened policies to support rural tourism and commercial uses/Rural residential consent policies proposed to be largely the same as the 2003 Official Plan (3 rural residential lots + retained from a parcel that existed on September 5, 2000) and allow some opportunity for infill rural lot creation.
• Settlement Areas (Three classifications of settlement areas, primary, secondary and tertiary for the purpose of growth allocation and preferred servicing approaches.
• Environmental Protection (Recognition of Frontenac Arch Biosphere and ecological importance of the area )
• Cultural Heritage (Policies relating to undertaking archaeological assessments/Recognition of cultural heritage, heritage designation and need to consider development adjacent to designated heritage properties.)
• Roads (Classification of Road System/Road widening widths based on classification of road/Private Lane policies (current wording based on County Private Lane study)
• Communal Servicing (Publicly owned communal servicing is preferred form of servicing – South Frontenac will undertake a servicing strategy to consider how to implement communal servicing in settlement areas.)
• Water Resources (Implement Source Protection policies including: Highly Vulnerable Aquifers and Groundwater Recharge/Intake Protection Zone – Sydenham Water System
• Public Participation (Policies and procedures for how to consult with the public )
• Implementation (Delegation of Authority/Minor zoning by-law amendments/Site plan control/Non-Complying and Non-conforming uses updated to reflect recent Ontario Land Tribunal (formerly OMB) decisions/Community Planning Permit System/Pre-consultation and Complete Application Policies.
• Definitions
• Comprehensive Mapping

Some of Council’s initial reactions related to the proposed designation of parcels of agricultural land between Harrowsmith and Hartington, in the Latimer Road area, and on the Westport Road east of Wolfe Lake. At the same time in settlement areas, all agricultural designation would be removed. Mayor Vandewal suggested that the emphasis on plans of condominium and subdivision could make further housing “only for the rich”.

The current proposal is to have Council members review the report before the June 14 meeting, and be prepared to either make amendments or, if they are comfortable with the document, agree to take it to the public for further consultation.

Councillors asked for printed versions, and the general feeling was that that three weeks was too short a time to study and comment on the long report: Morey pointed out that the current evening’s three-hour session had touched on only half of the full document. Dodds assured them that, while this represented the Planning Department’s best effort, the document could and probably would change, and there was no absolute deadline: this Council might choose to leave the final approval of the new official plan to the Council which will be elected this fall.

Meanwhile, the full document is available on the Township’s website, for the public to read.