Central Frontenac Council –
June 9/08
By Jeff Green
Central Frontenac Council resolves planning
bottleneck
There’s nothing like a muggy summer night, a
non-air conditioned hall, and a host of contentious planning matters
to make for a pleasant evening for a township council.
All of those elements were in play in Mountain Grove
on Monday night as Central Frontenac Council met to discuss a
subdivision on Eagle Lake, a controversial “dry dock” on the Bell
Line Road, and a retirement home on Road 38 south of Parham.
The first issue on the council agenda was a proposed
subdivision on Bridgens Island on Eagle Lake.
As explained by the township planner Glenn Tunnock
and a representative from the consulting firm McIntosh Perry, the
proposal is an attempt to take a 30-year-old co-operative arrangement
between 14 lot owners on the island and give each of the lot owners a
deed to their lot.
Of the 14 proposed lots, ten are currently occupied
by seasonal dwellings, and the four remaining lots would require
setbacks of 40 metres from the high water mark for any building to
take place.
The advocates for the subdivision, which will
require county approval if it is to proceed, have been aided by an
accident of timing.
In the revised Central Frontenac Official Plan,
which is on the verge of being approved by the Ontario Ministry of
Municipal Affairs, Eagle Lake has been deemed a “highly sensitive
Trout Lake”, severely limiting development. However, the
subdivision proposal pre-dated the new official plan, and Tunnock
said that according to a legal opinion from the township’s
solicitor, the township and the county can proceed in this case under
the rules in the Official Plan as it stood at the time the
application was filed.
Although most of the speakers on the proposal said
it is merely an attempt to recognise what is already in existence and
would not lead to any further impacts on the lake, there was a single
dissenting voice. A woman who lives on the shoreline of Eagle Lake
argues that there is much boat traffic and she feared the traffic
would increase.
No decision was made on the application, which will
continue its bureaucratic path.
BOOMGARDT REZONING: Council finally dispensed
with an unusual rezoning application, although the matter will most
likely end up before the Ontario Municipal Board.
Mr. Boomgardt was applying for a change in zoning to
permit him to build a parking lot and a dock on a piece of property
which has 19 metres of frontage on Warren’s Lake. The dock and
parking lot are intended for the exclusive use of people who purchase
four building lots that Mr. Boomgardt has created out of a 65 acre
piece of land that he owns.
Objections were registered by adjacent landowners,
who raised a series of technical arguments, and pointed to a report
by the fire chief that raised concerns about a
three metre wide road that is also planned. They argued that
the lake will be endangered for no other reason than to allow Mr.
Boomgardt to offer questionable waterfront access to properties that
would otherwise be less valuable.
There was much discussion about whether the proposed
dock would even reach the water or would only make it to a muddy
wetland some distance from the shallow lake.
“The dock will reach the water during certain
times of the year,” said Mr. Boomgardt’s consultant.
The zoning was approved in spite of objecting votes
by Normand Guntensperger, John Purdon, and an abstention by Gary
Smith.
CLOW REZONING - Another zoning matter that
has been before council for a time was resolved when Glenn Tunnock
recommended a zoning amendment to permit a retirement home expansion
by Jennifer Clow of Hinchinbrooke.
Water issues on the site will need to be resolved
before a building permit can be issued, and fire regulations will
need to be satisfied before an occupancy permit can be issued, but
the zoning hurdle has been cleared.
PUBLIC WORKS MATTERS – Public
Works Manager John Simcock reported that tenders have been received
for the surface treatment of Highway 509, Ardoch Road and Zealand
Road. The winning bid came from Smiths Paving at $520,000, which is
$2,000 over the budget estimate for the job. Greenwood Paving was the
only other bidder at $550,000.
The roadside mowing tender was awarded to Scott’s
Snowplowing and Grass Cutting for $13,500.
2ND LAKE ROAD –
The washed out Second Lake Road repair is being addressed. A trench
box culvert, costed at $63,000, from Anchor Concrete, has been
purchased and a crane hired to lower it into place. John Simcock said
there needs to be a “three-day weather window” to complete the
work.
MOUNTAIN GROVE FIRE HALL NEAR COMPLETION –
Simcock reported he has done a walk-through of the new firehall and a
few safety concerns are being addressed.
BLEACHER COMING – In response to a question from
Councilor Frances Smith, John Simcock said the second bleacher is
coming for the Oso ballfield in Sharbot Lake.
“Good,” said Smith, “I’ll know what to say
when people call me.”
SAFETY CONCERN OVER BEARS - Finally, Simcock
took the opportunity to report that many people have been
congregating at the Olden dump during off hours to view the bears
that have taken up residence there.
“Many of the bears are female and when their cubs
are born the situation will become even more dangerous than it is -
and it is already dangerous,” said Simcock.
People are advised to stay away from bears, and
never to approach them.
“On some nights, you would think it was a drive–in
movie theatre there with the number of cars,” Simcock said.
The matter will also be raised with the Ontario
Provincial Police.
