North Frontenac Council -
by Jeff Green
Solution
offered for Ardoch livestock: chickens may come home to roost after all.
Glenn
Tunnock, the North Frontenac Township Planning consultant, offered up
an option which could allow Scott Cooper and Charles Johnston of the
hamlet of Ardoch to keep the livestock they have accumulated on their
property. In September they received a notice from the township’s
bylaw officer informing them that the livestock they tend on their
property is illegal and must be removed, as Ardoch is considered a
“hamlet zone” in the township's comprehensive zoning bylaw, which
came into force in 2004.
Cooper
and Johnston asked for a delay so they could apply for a zoning
change, arguing that their property has been continually used for
agricultural purposes since 1931, and pre-existing uses are not
generally prohibited by new bylaws.
However,
the township’s solicitor expressed the opinion that the property
was only being used for crop production when Cooper and Johnston
bought it a mere nine days after the bylaw came into force. Bringing
in a few goats, sheep, and chickens represented a change in use, and
thus contravened the bylaw. For the township to alter the zoning now
would set a dangerous precedent.
In
his presentation to Council on November 27, Tunnock said that there
is a provision in the Planning Act whereby property owners can apply
to the township’s Committee of Adjustment for a one-time alteration
in land use, which would allow them to expand their agriculture
cropping operation to a livestock operation. Limitations on the
number of animals and the location of the barn or shed for the
animals would apply.
“That
one-time approval should be based on a cap of the number of livestock
units. The issue is the potential impacts on the neighbours,”
Tunnock said.
The
advantage of this kind of solution, according to Tunnock, is that it
does not require a change in zoning, and thus does not set any real
precedent that could come back to haunt the township.
Council
was generally happy to see a solution to the bureaucratic tangle in
this case, and agreed to follow Tunnock's advice, but there were
questions raised about the definition of a hamlet, which was at the
root of the issue.
“Is
there such a designation as rural hamlet?” asked Councilor Wayne
Good. “We have hamlets that have only one or two houses”.
“What
we tried to do with hamlets is recognise the potential for new
development by encouraging residential uses over other uses in these
zones,” said Tunnock.
Tie
goes to the loser – Tie
votes on two competing motions symbolized the split in council over
whether to plow a small section of the Crotch Lake Access Road for
permanent residents Terry and Karin Reynolds.
Ms.
Reynolds appeared before Council and pointed out that the road is a
township owned and maintained road, and although maintenance has only
been on a seasonal basis for boat access to the lake, the presence of
permanent residents puts the onus on the township to maintain the
road for the first 500 feet, where the Reynolds live. A report from
Public Works manager John Ibey pointed out that the township could
have significant expense plowing the road because the preferable
means would be through a contractor and the road is not located near
any other contracted road. As well, he suggested that the township
might want to consider how many similar roads there are in the
township before approving an increase in service.
A
motion had been prepared as the result of Ibey’s report, calling
for the whole matter to be considered in budget talks, with the
possibility of hiring a consultant to look at all the roads that may
be involved.
With
Councilor Lonnie Watkins absent from the meeting, Mayor Maguire
surmised that the remaining six members of Council were split. Half
of them would support the motion that came out of Ibey’s report,
and half would support providing the service to the Reynolds.
He
was right. Councilors Perry, Good, and Mayor Maguire supported the
motion, while Deputy Mayor Beam, as well as Councillors Gunsinger and
Olmstead, voted against it.
A
second motion, to provide the service, was supported by Beam,
Gunsinger, and Olmstead and opposed by Maguire, Perry, and Good.
In
municipal politics, tie votes are lost.
“I
wish Lonnie were here,” said Karin Reynolds, referring to the
absent Watkins, who has indicated his support for her cause.
Maguire
disappointed with county process – Mayor
Maguire reported to council on the all day meeting that was held to
kick off the public consultation on the Frontenac County Integrated
Community Sustainability plan.
“There
are issues and solutions that are characteristic of the southern
half, and different issues in the northern half and the two don't
seem to be mixing here,” said Maguire. “They've begun the process
of meeting with citizens of local communities, but they picked the
wrong time of year. Back in the spring I told Don Grant, their senior
consultant, that 2/3 of our residents are seasonal, but that did not
seem to make any difference to them.
“In
sum. Nothing new was said; there was nothing new that we heard. Was
anything accomplished? No. I did tell them that I think maybe the
County itself is not sustainable, but they are used to that from me
by now.”
Mississppi
Valley budget - Deputy
Mayor Jim Beam, the township representative to the Mississippi Valley
Conservation Authority (MVCA), informed council that the authority
will be doing a lot of work on water facilities next year, seven of
which are located in North Frontenac. The draft budget for the MVCA
calls for a relatively small increase in the base budget, about 62
cents per resident in North Frontenac, and an extra levy, for the
next four years, to help pay for a new headquarters. For 2009, this
would mean the levy for North Frontenac would rise from $12,000 in
2008, to over $16,000 in 2009.
“We
still do pretty well when we consider how much work they do on the
township,” said Beam.
The
City of Ottawa pays the vast majority of the MVCA budget, which is
levied according to population, in excess of 95% of the budget.
Recycling
plant – The
township will contribute to the costs of a business plan for the
purchase and operation of a recycling plant in Renfrew. The plant
would serve eight surrounding townships.
