| Jun 22, 2016


VCA comes calling

Wayne Conway of the Verona Community Association (VCA) appeared before the monthly meeting of Frontenac County Council last week (June 15). He was looking for support for a new electronic sign project in Verona.

The sign, which will be used to promote community events and public service information from the Township of South Frontenac and the County, will be located at the same location as the existing VCA sign at the corner of Road 38 and Burnett Street.

The VCA has raised $30,000 to purchase the sign; the Verona Lions Club has committed $2,500 for the installation; and the Township of South Frontenac has agreed to pay the ongoing power bill to keep the sign shining.

Conway was looking to Frontenac County to cover the $1,000 (approximate) one-time cost of installing power to the sign.

Conway pointed out that the location of the sign in Verona is central to residents of Frontenac County who travel to Central and North Frontenac, as well as residents of South Frontenac.

“The county would be interested in using this sign to promote their events as well. Notices may include information relative to public awareness; warning messages such as severe weather recovery; unforeseen disaster circumstances; K&P Trail information; county events; plowing match; Open Doors; special celebrations, etc. ,” he said.

Council received Conway's presentation and will consider the proposal.

Comprehensive Private Lane Study

One of the key elements in the development of Frontenac County's first ever Official Plan was a concession by the Province of Ontario over further development of residential properties on privately owned lanes.

As a matter of policy, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing had been insisting that all new building lot development be restricted to roadways that either become township roads (through a plan of subdivision process) or form part of a vacant land 'plan of condominium', wherein a corporation made up of adjacent landowners is responsible for their maintenance.

Both of those options are expensive and would hinder the ability of existing county residents to create small numbers of new lots, one or two at a time, and bring new construction and new people into the townships.

Joe Gallivan, Director of Planning and Economic Development Services for Frontenac County, promised the Ministry of Municipal Affairs that if the ministry was willing to temper its demand that private lane development be banned, the county would undertake a study of the issue with a view towards creating a set of rules that satisfy the underlying concerns of the province.

The main concern has to do with ensuring that the roads are up to a reasonable standard and that emergency personnel – ambulance, fire and police – can get through when necessary.

A study was commissioned to look at the existing private roads in the county, and make recommendations for future development.

Brian Whitehead, of Jp2g Consulting of Pembroke, prepared a comprehensive report on the matter, which included an inventory of all the private lanes in the county, and looked at which of them are candidates for further development.

The study concluded that only 15% of existing private lanes have the potential for further development and recommends that only up to three new lots should be added to those lanes.

It also recommends that lanes that are or are likely to be used for permanent year-round residential use should not be privately owned.

Whitehead said that while the inventory shows that there should be only limited increase in development on existing private lanes, once the measures are adopted there will be potential for the development of new private lanes in remote areas of the county where there is still waterfront available for development.

In receiving the report, members of council noted that it represents a major effort on the part of the consultant and Joe Gallivan.

“I think we have persisted in our efforts, and by working with the ministry but not backing down to them, we have saved ourselves the expense of an OMB hearing on our Official Plan, which would have been expensive and might not have yielded a good result. This way we have served our residents' interests while satisfying the ministry. I think we have Joe, and Brian, to thank for this,” said Frontenac Islands Mayor Dennis Doyle, who was serving as Warden when the County Official Plan was being finalised.

Planning Advisory Committee formed

Council dealt with the deferred matter of forming a planning advisory committee, the makeup of which was a contentious issue at their meeting in May. One of the changes made to the original proposal was to soften the requirement that each of the four mayors who sit on county council must sit on the advisory committee. In the new version, the mayor can designate the second member of council from their township as the committee member.

As well, the scope of the committee's role will be subject to review in two years.

On one potentially contentious matter, the version of the committee's mandate that was passed last week is the same as the proposal that was deferred in May. It is the Planning Advisory Committee's role to conduct public hearings on plans of subdivision and plans of condominium, as outlined in the following proposal in the document:

“It is also recommended that the PAC also hold the formal public meetings as required by the Planning Act for subdivision and condominium applications. Currently these meetings are held by each township council at the request of the county. Having the PAC hold these meetings will result in a more transparent and accountable process, as the public will be aware that they are speaking to a committee of county council, and that four of the eight county council members will be present at the meeting.”

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