| Sep 27, 2012


Editorial by Jeff Green

Ever since the Limestone District School Board announced they were planning to build their new school in the parking lot of the current Sharbot Lake High School, I’ve had a nagging question.

Does the proximity of the school site to the west basin of Sharbot Lake, which has been designated by the province as a trout-sensitive lake, pose any restrictions on the building project?

To put this question into context, I need to cite an example of the impact of the trout-sensitive designation on property development.

A few weeks ago I spent about an hour at an Ontario Municipal Board Hearing in Sharbot Lake. The appellant owns a piece of land on Bridgen’s Island in Eagle Lake, another trout-sensitive lake in Central Frontenac.

The Bridgen’s Island case is complicated. A group of families bought it as a co-operative in the 1970s, and in the early 2000s they were told they needed to sever off pieces of land and take individual ownership under a plan of subdivision. By the time that took place Eagle Lake had been designated as trout-sensitive; no building lots can be created within 300 metres of the lake, and therefore the property owners who have not yet built on their land will never be able to build.

Most of the landowners had already built cottages, but a few haven’t. These unfortunate people, who have been paying municipal taxes for almost 40 years, will never be able to do anything on their land. All attempts to make exceptions in this case have been rebuffed by the provincial government.

I only spent an hour at the OMB hearing because it quickly became clear that the appellant was going to lose; the trout-sensitive designation is unyielding. The family will lose at the OMB and they will be out of luck. Their property is essentially worthless, designated as parkland. They can’t even put up a tent platform, much less put in an outhouse.

The section of the Central Frontenac zoning bylaw, which was put in place at the insistence of the provincial government, and which has made the Bridgen’s Islanders' property worthless, includes another clause. That clause says that under no circumstances can a septic bed commence within 300 metres of the high water mark of a trout-sensitive lake.

The new Sharbot Lake School is larger than the old school - much larger. It will have the capacity to handle a crowd of up to 1,000 people in one room for a large community event. The largest room in the existing school can only handle about 200 people.

So I naturally assumed that the septic bed will need to be expanded.

But that cannot happen within 300 metres of the high water mark of Sharbot Lake, according to the township’s iron-clad zoning bylaw. So the project is in trouble. The interim Chief Building Official in Central Frontenac said the school board will need a septic permit before they apply for a building permit, and because of the size of the septic system for a school, approval for a septic permit comes from the Ministry of the Environment (MoE).

When we asked the ministry about septic approvals on trout-sensitive lakes for a school, we received the following response from Sarah Dick, a Senior Environmental Officer with the MoE in Kingston.

“The approval of the system would likely fall under ministry jurisdiction due to its large size. The minimum set back requirements established by the municipality, with ministry guidance, are intended to be applied to smaller systems approved through the local health unit. If through its review of any application documents for a large system, the ministry feels a greater setback distance is required in order to ensure the protection of surface water or other features, these setbacks would be required through the ministry's approval. If the proponent could properly demonstrate that a reduced setback could be used (through phosphorus removal for instance) a reduced setback requirement may be approved as well.”

So, a school, which spends taxpayers' money, can get the benefit of some discretion from a set of rules that are unyielding in the case of the Bridgen's Islanders.

There was also a second piece of information from Sarah Dick, which read: “The ministry, to date, has not been approached by the Limestone District School Board regarding upgrades/changes to their septic system.”

We then asked the school board about their septic plans for the new school and received the following response:

"The Limestone District School Board is working closely with architects and the general contractor team on the construction of the new Kindergarten to Grade 12 school to be located in Sharbot Lake. Preparation of the building site, which is adjacent to the current Sharbot Lake High School, has begun.

Members of the new school project team met in early 2012 with representatives from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) to discuss various issues including the location of the septic system for the new school.

A recent evaluation of the Sharbot Lake High School septic system showed that it is functioning well and has sufficient capacity for additional flow from the new school. The school board is proposing to increase the treatment of the wastewater before discharge to enhance the capacity of the system and reduce impact to the groundwater quality.

The school board and its project engineers are continuing to work with the MOE and the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority to ensure environmental issues and concerns are addressed.”

There is obvious inconsistency in the two responses over whether the ministry has or has not been approached about the septic system.

There is also a lingering question in my mind about the

statement that the existing system “has sufficient capacity for additional flow from the new school”.

Who made that determination? If the ministry has not been formally approached, how can the school board be so confident in making that claim?

We will continue to monitor this situation in the coming weeks, if only for the sake of those beleaguered Bridgen's Islanders.

It should not be the case that one set of rules applies to people who pay property tax, and another set of rules applies to institutions that spend property tax dollars. But already that has been shown to be the case. At the very least we should make sure that the more flexible rules for institutions are being followed.

 

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