South Frontenac Council

Jeff Green | Feb 11, 2015

Proposed Official Plan would scuttle development in South Frontenac – Lindsay Mills

It took 10 months for the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs to respond to comprehensive Official Plan revisions that were submitted by South Frontenac Township.

As far as South Frontenac's Planner, Lindsay Mills, is concerned, the ministry might have waited even longer, given some of the requests they are now making for changes.

One of the issues of concern to Mills, and Council as well, is a common one among Frontenac townships. The ministry is insisting that no further development be contemplated on private lanes unless under it is under a plan of subdivision or vacant land condominium, which is an issue that has already left both Central and North Frontenac at loggerheads with the ministry. Frontenac County is also preparing an Official Plan, and anticipates a similar battle.

“It is council's decision whether to fight the private lane provision,” said Mills, “I know that our lawyer is chomping at the bit to fight the ministry on it at the OMB [Ontario Municipal Board].

But there is another amendment that the ministry is requesting that caught Mills completely by surprise. The ministry is proposing that all development within 120 metres of all bodies of water be restricted. This is a huge shift from the 30 metre setback that South Frontenac put in place with their first Official Plan in 1990.

“When we did that we were one of the first to do so; we were way ahead of everyone else, but where did they come up with this?” asked Mayor Ron Vandewal.

To illustrate the impact of the 120 metre setback, Lindsay Mills produced a map that marked all the areas that would be restricted by the 120 metre setback. It left most of the top two-thirds of the township covered in red.

“It think we would be hit harder by this than almost any other township because we have so many lakes,” said Mills.

The ministry's proposed regulation would only permit development within 120 metres, and that includes additions, land improvements, new construction, even septic beds, if an environmental assessment is done that demonstrates there will be no impact from the development on the body of water.

“This means that almost every building permit will require some sort of amendment and an expensive Environmental Assessment,” said Mills. “There is no justification for this.”

While the township is likely to take the ministry to the OMB over the 120 metre setback and the private lane development issue, a couple of other issues are basically set in stone, according to Mills.

One is the designation of Crow and Devil Lake as “at capacity” Trout Lakes, restricting development on those lakes to 300 metres from the high water mark. The second is the insistence by the ministry that no lot of record, as of the year 2000, may be subdivided into more than three lots. The township had asked that five lots be permitted instead, but Mills said the ministry will not budge on the issue and the OMB will likely back the ministry on it.

“What's the next step for this?” asked Councilor Mark Schjerning.

“We will have an open house with the public to discuss it and we will prepare a response to the ministry. If we can't sort it out, it will go to the OMB eventually. Meanwhile we are still governed by our existing Official Plan,” said Mills.

Budget complete, increase set at 2%

On Saturday, Council met all day to finalize the budget, and they settled on a 2% increase, according to Mayor Vandewal. One project that was altered was the fire hall in Perth Road. Instead of $2 million being set aside for the project, which was in the draft budget, only $1 million was included in the final version, on the expectation that the new hall will be smaller than the four-bay building that was proposed at a meeting of the Committee of the Whole in January.

Neighbours raise issues over Johnston Point Development

Helen Bartsch appeared as a delegate to point out that in her view, some elements of the proposed vacant land condominium at Johnston's Point, a bay off Loughborough Lake, does not fit with the Official Plan (OP).

According to Martsch, the OP says that the setback to A “Narrow Body of Water” must be 150 metres and a number of lots in the proposed development are 90 metres from the water. Bartsch also said that the developer did not measure setback to the “high water mark” which is also a requirement.

The development will the subject of an Open House in the township office on March 3.