| Sep 03, 2014


Ever since the Ardoch Lake Development Corporation began planning to develop lots on a large section of Ardoch Lake about five years ago, there has been keen public interest in the project, mainly from the few other property owners on the lake, and the more numerous residents of Malcolm Lake, which adjoins it.

It was not surprising, therefore, that the Clar-Mill Hall in Plevna was full on August 22 for a public meeting on the proposed 34 vacant lot condominium on the property.

A vacant lot condominium is similar to a subdivision. It is a planning tool that allows a developer to sub-divide a single large lot, in this case a 200 acre parcel with frontage on about half of the small lake. The laneway that connects all these properties to the nearest township road will be built by the developer, and maintained by a condominium corporation that will need to be established. In this case, the condominium corporation will also take legal responsibility for the type of septic systems that each of the eventual property owners puts in on their own lots.

Because Ardoch Lake is small, and there is a potential for increases in phosphorous levels in the lake as the result of septic runoff, this is a key element to the proposal.

The first presenter on the application was Joe Gallivan, who is playing a dual role in the planning process. As the staff planner for Frontenac County, he represents the county's interest as the approval authority for the plan of vacant land condominium. As the contract planner for the township (under an agreement with the county) he represents the township's interests in dealing with a site plan agreement and a zoning application that is part of the proposal.

Gallivan outlined the way the latest phase of the process has developed, including the reports from commenting agencies such as the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority, Kingston Frontenac Public Health and others.

Chief among the concerns expressed by MVCA are those dealing with potential impacts of the development on water quality and the fact that if the development is approved as proposed, the capacity of the lake for development will be used up. None of the three or four other property owners on the lake will be able to create new building lots on their properties.

Speaking for the developer, planner Peter Josephs said that by insisting that the septic systems on each of the 34 lots are built using recently approved technology the impact of phosphorous on the lake will be minimised, and the lake will be able to maintain a level of phosphorous under the provincial standard of 20 micrograms per litre.

Other groups also made presentations raising concerns about the proposed condominium, including the North Frontenac Lake Associations Alliance, and the Malcolm and Ardoch Lake Association.

Speaking for his family, Brian Schonauer talked about the decades-old cottages his family has put up on the other side of the lake, and said they might want to put up a few more at some point. Then he went further, introducing Gord Neilson of Michalski Neilson, a environmental planning and lake capacity assessment company based in Bracebridge, Ont.

In a detailed report, Gord Neilson questioned the target of 20 mirograms per litre of phosphorous in a lake that he described as "oligotrophic". Oligotrophic lakes are prized for their “excellent water quality and clarity”.

“Results of ministry-sponsored surveys show that Ardoch and Malcolm Lakes have low levels of phosphorous coming from natural sources, making them very clear as well ... the long-standing provincial water quality standard for oligotrophic lakes reads as follows:

'A high level of protection against aesthetic deterioration will be provided by a total phosphorous concentration for the ice free period of 10[micrograms]/Litre or less. This should apply to all lakes naturally below this value.'"

With the limited amount of development already existing on Ardoch Lake, the mean phosphorous concentration in testing between 2010 and 2013 is 6.8.

Neilson also said that “The typical pattern for new shoreline development on small cottage-country lakes is through individual severances, which result in small, incremental changes in lake values ... Larger plans of subdivision or plans of condominium are often contemplated on large lakes, the size and flow characteristics of which provide considerable resiliency against the scale of such development. It is extremely unusual for an application to be advanced that would see an increase of 25% or more in the number of residential units on a lake, let alone the approximately 400% increase in this case.”

Members of the public also expressed their concerns about the proposal, particularly because all of the calculations for impacts on the shoreline and water quality are based on seasonal use. However cottages do get four-season use.

Peter Josephs said that the road that will be put in will not be ploughed in the winter, limiting the use of the residences.

Joe Gallivan said that the proposal and all of the commentary will allow his office to provide a recommendation in the coming weeks.

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