Controversy over building permit in South Frontenac

Jeff Green | Jun 16, 2011

South Frontenac Council recently received a letter from a ratepayer who was surprised to see a building going up in a location where they understood building could not take place.

The location of the property is at the corner of Yarker and McConnell roads near Harrowsmith, and there are three barns in the vicinity.

According to a letter to council written by William and Kathleen Beeman, who live across the road from the property in question, the provincially mandated Minimum Distance Separation (MDS) rules for barns prohibit any building within a set distance from agricultural barns.

The Beemans understood, from talking to Carolyn and Fergus Brown, who owned the 10-acre property until May 2 of this year, that MDS rules stipulated that only the far eastern corner of the property could be built on.

All that seems to have changed when the property was sold to Herbert Benedikt and Sherry Bradshaw, who applied for and received a building permit on May 20. They have begun to construct a house on the western corner of the property, right at the junction of Yarker and McConnell Roads.

Councilor Bill Robinson, who represents Portland District, told the News that he met with the Browns and Township Planner Lindsay Mills three years ago and they talked about the property that is at the centre of this developing controversy.

“I met with Fergus and Carolyn Brown and Lindsay Mills and he told them there would never be a building on the western part of that lot because of minimum distance separations from the three barns in the area,” Robinson said. “There is no doubt about that.”

In a report to the South Frontenac Committee of the Whole on June 14, Lindsay Mills wrote, “The building department considered the location of the adjacent barns on neighbouring lands and determined that a building was permitted at a location on the western portion of the subject lot.”

A map attached to Mills' report shows the three barns and arcs representing the MDS for each of them, and reveals a location at the western edge of the lot that is outside of all three of the arcs.

Later in his report Mills wrote, “There is nothing on record indicating that a building permit could not be issued on the subject property at this site.”

When questioned directly about the meeting with the Browns, Mills said that he did indeed meet with the Browns and Bill Robinson about 2½ years ago.

“It was an informal meeting,” said Mills. “To the best of my recollection I told them they could not build near a barn, but I took no measurements; nothing was written down, and there was no follow up.”

Bill Robinson then asked that the matter be further discussed at the in camera session at the end of the meeting, and this was agreed to by Mayor Davison.

The News contacted Carolyn Brown earlier on Tuesday. She did not want to discuss the matter, but she did confirm Bill Robinson’s version of the meeting with Lindsay Mills 2½ years ago.