Johnston Point: Gold Standards and Big Microscopes

In their responses to the developer’s request for a one-year extension of the three year old draft plan of approval for the Johnson Point plan of condominium, which is due to expire at the end of June, Council members made their unhappiness with the process very clear.

Although final decisions about plans of condominium rest with Frontenac County, the township’s recommendations on matters relating to condo and subdivision developments are forwarded to the county to become part of the decision-making process.

Developer Gavin Marshall of Magenta Waterfront Development, which assumed responsibility for the Johnson Point project in March, introduced himself as a person with strong local connections, having grown up in Prince Edward County and graduated from Queen’s. He spoke of the “unprecedented degree of scrutiny and analysis that has made this the gold standard for waterfront developments.” He said the condo corporation would have an environmental committee formed of residents who were totally committed to the environment and the area.

“Johnson Point will produce great economic benefits for the Township and will cement and elevate South Frontenac as a place with extremely high environmental standards,” he said: “Johnston Point is the gold standard future we all need to get to.” Marshall complimented Township staff for their help and commitment: “Our Corporation has the expertise and financial ability to help you bring this project to completion in the next few months.”

Marshall introduced Tracy Zander, planning consultant and project manager. “In spite of two extensions, I feel we are close to getting registration,” said Zander, “but to date, we have been unable to obtain a copy of the Benefit Agreement.”

This is the problem: a benefit permit from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Fisheries (MNRF) is required before the subdivision can be registered, and neither the Township nor the current developer has been able to obtain a copy of this document. The document delineates protective measures to be undertaken for the surrounding wetland habitat and identified species at risk at the site (including Blandings turtles, Black Rat snakes, and Whipporwills). The MNRF issued the Benefit Permit for the Johnston Point project on November 14, 2018, to the then proponent of the project (Gary Beach) and claims that it is unable to share the permit with township or county. To date Beach has refused to share the document, the County has been unable to get a copy, and has filed a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act request to obtain one that can be shared with the Township. Marshall is also in the process of trying to obtain a copy of the benefit permit. Later in the meeting, Beach came as a delegate in reference to another subdivision, saying only that “there will be time to speak to other developments at another date.”

As Claire Dodds, Director of Development Services for South Frontenac Township, explained to the News earlier in the day in a telephone interview, the township cannot make a recommendation to the county until it sees the benefit agreement. The township needs to know that whatever is required under that agreement has been satisfied before it can recommend that the county give final approval for the plan of condominium.

“Without seeing the agreement, we are stuck,” she said.

The township has made a freedom of information request to try and force the MNRF to release the document, and Dodd’s recommended that council grant the one year extension to allow the benefit agreement and other issues enough time to play themselves out.

Deputy Mayor Sleeth led the response by some sharp questioning of the unavailability of the Benefit permit, asking why nothing seemed to have been done until now, even though Magenta had taken over the project more than two months ago. He went on to point out that neither council nor staff had been permitted to enter the Johnson point property until very recently, to see what was going on.

Councillor Sutherland said that although it was good to talk to the majority shareholder, in his opinion “Johnson Point is an inappropriate space (for development), no matter what the gold standard is.” He listed five issues that have come up in the past five years, including the “unconscionable” construction of a bridge without a building permit, and brush clearing along the shoreline.

Marshall responded that construction of the offending bridge had halted, and an engineer had been retained to draw up a design to accompany a building permit application. He added that although branches had been cut along the shoreline, no trees had been removed and this had been all right with their consulting biologist. Sutherland countered this by saying that regulations for the 30 metre setback stated that all vegetation should be retained and maintained; “It’s pretty clear that this means all vegetation. We have been working hard to protect our shorelines and don’t want to see niggling and picking away at branches and fallen trees, etc.”

“This is your issue, not ours,” said Councillor Ruttan when Marshall complained that Mr Beach had refused to release the Benefit Permit to him. “I question it is gold standard when a lot of work has been done without approval: seeking permission after the fact is hardly ‘gold standard’. Also, how do you plan to hold the new owners to a standard?”

Marshall replied, “We’re under a really big microscope here. No way could we get away with cutting corners. It can be tough to legislate human nature, but the residents will have a commonality of interest - they will be interested in conservation.” Ruttan responded that the big magnifying glass didn’t seem to have worked so far.

“The municipality has put in hundreds of hours on this project, and it has cost us thousands of dollars,” said Sleeth, “with no benefit to the Township to date.”

Marshall responded that he, too, had a lot of money - ten million dollars -invested, and five pending sales, once the project had final approval: “We have high environmental standards. It is regrettable, deplorable and unfortunate that these standards have not been upheld. The microscope has been greatly expanded now that our company has taken over.”

Councillor Revill said he was disappointed Mr Beach was not more forthcoming, but at this point he could not support what appears to be a very last-minute request for an extension. “It feels like a very adversarial relationship between the developer and council.”

Council narrowly defeated an amendment that would have seen the matter referred to the development committee, which meets later this week, for recommendations to a special meeting of Council that could be called shortly afterward.

In a recorded vote, Council also turned down the recommendation that they approve the requested year’s extension of draft plan approval. (Only Mayhor Vandewal and Coucillor Leonard were in favour).

The minutes of the evening’s discussion and outcome will be forwarded to the County, who will make the final decision.

Two other requests for draft plan extensions: Cranberry Cove condominium and Ouellette subdivision, both in Storrington, were approved without discussion.

Cowboy Mounted Shooting Range

Council directed stuff to issue a letter of ‘no objection’ to the private shooting range proposed near Piccadilly for the purpose of Cowboy Mounted Shooting, subject to both Phillip Smith and Jamie Lloyd entering into an agreement with the Township as outlined in the report of May 29, 2019. Conditions limit the times of use, and stipulate that no live ammunition will be discharged on the range, as well as other details. This support will be granted on a trial basis of 6 months and will be subject to renewal upon evaluation. The range will also be governed by the Firearms Act and Regulations, as administered by the Chief Firearms Officer.

SF Official Plan Review

Council will hold a special meeting on August 6, to consider revisions to the Official Plan, and three public meetings will be scheduled, to gain public input on lakes and natural environment, rural lands and economy, settlement areas and community. These will be publicly advertised.

Premier’s letter to municipal councils

Premier Ford’s letter of May 23, which withdraws this year’s retroactive funding cuts for public health, paramedic series and child care, also asks municipalities to find new and better ways to cut costs.

This drew a tart response from council and staff.

Outgoing CAO Wayne Orr: “I do not believe for a moment that South Frontenac is wasteful or overstaffed. Rather we deliver exceptional services with the resources we have and have taken steps towards being self-sufficient rather than relying upon grants in order to meet expectations.

“I do acknowledge that there could be different processes, but caution that they may come at a cost to service delivery, access to services and programs or staff morale and retention. Efforts to identify potential efficiencies and / or savings are best focused on the big picture items rather than looking at how much is spent on office supplies, how many paint brushes we buy a year or how much we pay for rust proofing etc.”

Councillor Sutherland: “Council knows how to save and spend money: this is disrespectful.”

Deputy Mayor Sleeth: “I agree; we do a really good job of managing our finances.”

Mayor Vandewal: “There’s always room for improvement, but it doesn’t seem like the (recommended) exercise is worth it.”

Joe Gallivan, Manager for Planning and Economic Development for Frontenac County, briefed Frontenac County Council last week on a communal services report that will be coming their way next month. This is a file that Gallivan has been working on for years, but he wanted some of the newer members of the council to be more familiar with the issues in the report in advance of its release.

The Province of Ontario encourages rural municipalities to focus on development within hamlets. Since there are no hamlets in Frontenac County that have municipal water systems except for Sydenham, and there are no municipal waste water systems in the county at all, development potential within and near hamlets is limited.

“The potential for communal services within subdivisions has been around since 1995, but municipalities have not taken it up within their jurisdictions, because of fears over the potential liability coming back to the public if a communal water or waste system fails,” said Gallivan. “Over the years, the technology for septic systems has progressed substantially, and that cuts the risk.”

Communal services would mean there is one large septic system to cover an entire development instead of separate systems for each building. In some case, one of more communal wells could be included as well.

Municipalities in Ontario have two options for creating multiple building lots on a single piece of property, ‘vacant land condominium’ development, and ‘plan of subdivision’ development. Under a ‘plan of subdivision’, the municipality assumes ownership, and the associated costs, for the public infrastructure (roads, ditches, sidewalks, etc.) within a development, after the developer pays to build them to a municipal standard, whereas within a ‘plan of condominium’ the infrastructure remains the responsibility of the property owners after construction is complete.

Plans of Condominium, Gallivan said, could include responsibility for upkeep and maintenance of communal services in addition to roads and ditches, keeping municipal liability to a minimum.

“As well, if there are a number these systems within Frontenac County, there may also be an opportunity to put together a single municipal fund to cover potential liability from all of them. Individual projects would not have to cover as much liability on their own.”

In making his presentation, Gallivan used an existing development on the southwest edge of Inverary as an illustration of how much more density can be achieved using communal services. The Mathias subdivision is a 27 - acre block of land with 16 lots. The minimum lot size in the development is 1.5 acres, and each lot includes space for a well and individual septic system.

If a communal septic system were in place, the same block of land would be able to contain 42 detached lots as well as 9 townhouse lots and a small apartment complex with 12 units, plus a commercial lot. Gallivan said that once the study is released, he will be proposing that Council authorise him to go to the township councils to see if they are interested in pursuing the type of development that communal systems will make possible within their townships.

“It really comes down to what the local townships envision for their future,” he said, “the timing is good for South Frontenac, which is facing a lot of development pressure right now. The council is starting to review their Official Plan, and they will have the opportunity to accept communal services in their new plan”.

Gallivan said that one of the key elements for developers would be a consistent process and cost structure for communal water systems across the county.

“That would put Frontenac County ahead of other municipalities,” he said.

While South Frontenac is the jurisdiction that would be the most likely to see developments using the communal system model, Gallivan said he could see applications in Marysville on Wolfe Island, as well as in Central and North Frontenac.

It’s probably fair to say the most controversial aspect of North Frontenac’s new Zoning Bylaw has been the inclusion of the Palmerston Lake ANSI (Area of Natural or Scientific Interest).

To that end, Mayor Ron Higgins has been corresponding with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) trying to get to the bottom of why it was established in the first place.

ANSIs in Ontario come in three flavours — Provincial, Regional and Proposed. In the Frontenac County Official Plan, Provincial and Regional ANSIs are recognized, including the Palmerston Lake one.

In a report to Council, Higgins wrote: “The MNRF has advised the Palmerston Lake ANSI is regional; however, the issue is that the current Council and staff has not been able to acquire the historical information and supporting documentation from MNRF to adequately address the concerns of our residents and the Township itself.

“Provincially and Regional significant ANSIs are treated the same in the County Official Plan, whereas MNRF does not have the same restrictions for regionally as Provincially designated ANSIs.”

Higgins went on to say “this issue is a concern for our Township and residents as many wee unaware of the Palmerston Lake ANSI designations due to the omission of this requirement in past Official Plans and residents stating they were never involved in any consultations by MNRF at the time (other ANSIs were shown on the 2003 Official Plan).”

“They (MNRF) haven’t provided their justification for designating,” said Coun. Vern Hermer.

“I suggest we delay the procedures until the MNRF responds,” said Coun. John Inglis.

“There are other aspects of the bylaw people need,” said Higgins.

“Perhaps some amendment where ANSIs can be revisited,” said Coun. Fred Fowler.

“At the public meeting, the ANSIs will be on the map,” said Clerk-Planning Manager Tara Mieske. “But, it’s a draft.

“If, after the public meeting, Council decides to take the out, they can.”

Higgins said he’d work with the County to get its Official Plan amended.

Township to rescind firearms bylaw

Mayor Ron Higgins said he’d received two complaints concerning the discharge of firearms in the Township and so the Township’s firearms bylaw was on the table at Friday’s regular meeting in Plevna, complete with a series of amendments.

However, there didn’t seem to be much support for the way things were worded.

“It’s too encompassing, too broad a brush,” said Coun. Gerry Martin. “This is going to prevent people from hunting ducks on Malcolm Lake.

“We’re up here in hill country (and) we’re hillbillies.”

Coun. Fred Fowler, himself a retired police officer, said that any complaints should be investigated by OPP officers and perhaps the noise bylaw applied.

“If there are charges to be laid, they’ll lay them,” he said.

CAO Cheryl Robson agreed.

“Why do we even have this bylaw?” she said. “It’s all covered under the Criminal Code, the Hunting Regulations or it’s just not our jurisdiction.”

“I recommend we rescind the whole bylaw,” said Coun. Vern Hermer.

And that’s just what they decided to do.

Council asked staff to bring back a bylaw rescinding the firearms bylaw next meeting.

Good Roads report

Public Works Manager Darwyn Sproule’s trip to the Good Roads Conference was informative, he told Council.

“The age of the ‘expert’ is declining,” he said. “There is so much information available.”

But, with all the advancements in electronic communication and information, there is a bit of a downside, he said.

“Complaints are now easier to make,” he said. “And, with email, they can be made faster, which means people can complain while they’re still angry whereas in the past, they had to take time to write a letter, giving them an opportunity to calm down.”

Brenda Crawford and Pam Redden came to Council on behalf of the Harrowsmith Beautification Committee with a proposal for improving the landscape of the new village traffic light section, along with other community upgrades. Crawford assured Council that none of the additions, and the list is impressive, would cost the Township money. The Public Works and Building departments will, however, have to review and approve the projects, which include a (fully accessible) gazebo with a cement base, placement of stones and possibly a fence, several benches, installation of recently-commissioned metal poppies and removal of dead tree and brush. She also listed a bench for the children's play area at Centennial park, and a flagpole on Road 38 near Alton Road, in memory of Roy Leonard. All the work and materials for the items and improvements have been donated by individuals and businesses in the community. All donations will be recognized by (locally designed and also donated) plaques.

Mayor Vandewal asked that the flagpole be located where a local resident could take responsibility for raising and lowering it as appropriate, and complimented Crawford for her energy and considerable skill at fundraising. Council unanimously agreed. Crawford noted that the Beautification Committee and Harrowsmith S&A were looking toward working in cooperation to continue making Harrowsmith an attractive and comfortable community in which to live.

Staff Changes and Additions
Council formalized Christopher Beeg’s appointment as Building Inspector: Beeg is an experienced carpenter, has worked in the building supply area, and as a site supervisor for Guildcrest Homes overseeing construction of new factory built homes.

Interviews for the position of Township CAO are slated to take place within a week.

Strategic Planning
Faced with competing demands to: enhance services, reduce costs and protect the environment, Council plans to seek public input to help with choosing priorities. CAO Orr brought the chosen timeline and a proposal for an online survey to be used as a framework for discussion at open houses in each of the districts later this summer. Councillor Ruttan expressed concern that there needed to be more focus on values, rather than a list of concrete actions. Mayor Vandewal noted that this was not meant to replace the updating of the Official Plan, which would be a major part of Council’s task in the coming year, and would include an in-depth review of the Township’s goals and values, again with public input. This StratPlan is to more to guide the Township’s current day-to-day work, within the budget that has been set out for 2019.

Dates for the district Open Houses (at which the new CAO will be introduced to the public) are: Thursday August 01 Bedford; Wednesday Aug 7 - Storrington; Tuesday Aug 13 - Portland, and Tuesday Aug 20 - Loughborough.

Women’s Institute Week Proclaimed
Council proclaimed the week of June 17 to June 22 to be Women’s Institute Week in South Frontenac. This year is the Sydenham Women’s Institute’s centennial: there will be a special celebration on Saturday June 22, at Grace Hall. Over the past hundred years, this group has made important and lasting contributions to Sydenham and its surrounding community. More info on this later!

Regional Roads
Council reviewed proposals by the County for finding a way to access funding through the County for regional Roads, particularly the former Provincial Highway 38, which was downloaded to the individual Townships at the time of amalgamation. At that time, the County had dissolved into a management committee, so there was no way, once the County re-formed, for it to access any funding support for the shared highway, now known as Road 38. Currently, South Frontenac’s road system is in good condition, but the other three Townships have smaller populations, and need more money than they have been able to raise for road maintenance and repair.

Of the five proposed options, South Frontenac Council cautiously preferred the third: to take a regional approach, with contracted engineering, and limited County involvement. They voted to endorse it, on the condition that any business plan for this option would require unanimous consent from all four Townships.

Waste Management in Frontenac County: Options
In response to a county report of waste management, Councilor Sutherland noted that while recycling depends heavily on provincial policy, diversion of organic waste from our landfill sites lies well within South Frontenac’s reach. Because half of the current Township waste stream is composed of organics, diversion could considerably extend the life of our landfill sites. As well as composting, either locally or centrally, Sutherland listed other creative approaches: the upcoming Repair Cafes (May 26 in Bellrock, June in Perth Road); roadside or landfill swaps, etc.)

The report was referred to the Public Services Committee for recommendations.

Usually, when all the stacking chairs at a North Frontenac Council meeting are filled with warm bodies, it means somebody’s getting an award.

But the crowd at last Friday’s meeting was in no mood to give anybody an award. They were there to voice their concerns about the Township’s new Zoning Bylaw.

Zoning Bylaw discussions, as a rule, don’t tend to draw crowds. But two aspects of this one would seem to have created considerable concerns — commercial forestry operations and Areas of Natural or Scientific Interest (ANSI).

In particular, the ANSIs in North Frontenac seemed to draw the most interest.

Some ANSIs date back as far as the late ’60s and were created by the Province of Ontario under the MNR to protect significant areas of biological or geological interest, including old growth forests, unique flora and fauna, species at risk, fossils, mineral deposits or geological structures. Perhaps the best known is the Niagara Escarpment and one new one under consideration is the Marble Lake Stromatolites- arguably the oldest fossils on the planet. ANSIs designated as “provincial” are considered among the best examples of certain aspects in the province.

“We’re not even close to passing the bylaw yet,” Mayor Ron Higgins told the crowd. “This is my No. 1 priority.

“I’m on it every day.”

He said there’s another public meeting on the agenda, likely near the end of May “but we’re not near ready yet.”

In a report to the Township, Megan Rueckwald, manager of community planning, County of Frontenac said there are currently eight confirmed ANSIs within the Township and three more ‘candidate ANSIs.

The confirmed ANSIs are:

The Plevna Cedar Swamp (life sciences, regional)

Snow Road Station Esker (earth sciences, provincial)

Hungry Lake Barrens (life sciences, provincial)

Within the Madawaska Highlands Land Use Plan:

Palmerston Lake (life sciences, regional)

Evergreen Mountain (life sciences, regional)

Summit Lake (life sciences, provincial)

Fortune-Schooner (life sciences, provincial)

Centennial Lake (life science, provincial)

The candidate ANSIs are:

Bishop Corners Schoolhouse (earth sciences, provincial)

Ore Chimney Mine (earth sciences, provincial)

Marble Lake Stromatolites (earth sciences, provincial)

Most of the ANSI lands are on Crown Land, however, the Plevna Cedar Swamp, Snow Road Station Esker, Palmerston Lake and Fortune-Schooner overlap with privately-owned land.

And that’s where the points of contention come in.

“When I read it, it clearly indicates the ANSI (designation) totally applies to Crown Land,” said Coun. Vernon Hermer. “My opinion is that they’ve (MNR) made mapping mistakes and they don’t want to appear foolish.

“That’s why they’re stonewalling.”

“According to the map, it applies to Crown Land, not private land,” said Higgins. “So we’re contesting it.”

“We’ve had like 18 instances of invasive species, gypsy moths being one example,” said Dep. Mayor Fred Perry. “How do we know these things are still there?”

Being designated and Environmental Protection zones doesn’t in itself preclude development in these areas but it does require some studies that wouldn’t necessarily be required in other zones (at a cost of $2,000-$5,000). Also, certain activities (mining, lumbering, hunting) may be restricted depending on what’s being protected in the ANSI.

“And, if you remove the EP in the Zoning Bylaw, a study still has to be done because of the Township and County Official Plan requirements,” said Rueckwald.

The Palmerston Lake ANSI seems to be garnering the most attention. Among the features being protected are a rare form of orchid, and a rare moss, a Great Blue Heron colony, nesting ravens and calcareous-based hardwoods.

Central Frontenac Council passed a motion to declare the old Parham Fire Surplus and approved it being listed for sale at its regular meeting Tuesday afternoon in Sharbot Lake.

The motion came as a part of a proposal from Fire Chief Greg Robinson who, in his report, proposed that the “net proceeds of the sale be transferred to the fire reserve account.”

The old Parham station was replaced with a new fire station in 2016 and the old one is currently used as a warehouse for fire equipment.

However, Robinson said that the fire department has two surplus stations in Mountain Grove and the one by the rink could be used for storage as well as continue as change room for the rink. He acknowledged that there are some recreational materials in the building but the Facilities Manager assured him that they are rotting skateboard park items that will be disposed of or relocated by Facilities.

“We have received serious interest from two parties that want to purchase the old station,” Robinson said in his report.

However, there are two potential problems with a sale of the property.

The property has two neighbours, one a residential property directly west and the Township itself in conjunction with the Parham Agricultural Society on the other two sides. The property in question is directly adjacent to the fairgrounds.

In his report, Robinson said “the land severance will be about half an acre and will not impact the fairground.

Three councilors (Tom Dewey, Bill MacDonald and John Purdon) all pointed out that under the Official Plan, the minimum lot size in Central Frontenac is 1.25 acres.

Robinson said that the entrance to the fairgrounds could be moved in order to comply with the minimum lot size requirements but Coun. Phillip Smith, who is the treasurer for the Ag Society said it was the first he’d heard of the entrance being moved.

The other issue is that there is a well on the property that is used by the ball fields. Robinson said that one of the interested parties said they didn’t use much water and would be prepared to let the fairgrounds/ ball fields continue to draw water from the property. If someone else wanted to buy it, Robinson said “we’d have to drill another well” for the ball fields to use.

It is conceivable that the neighbours to the west might want to add the property to their own but in any other scenario, there is a lot of process to happen before the property could be sold including a survey, addition of property from the fairgrounds (either by moving the entrance or taking some from the children’s play area), determination of fair market value and quite likely a zoning change, depending on what the new owners might want to use it for.

Former Coun. John Purdon was sworn in to replace the departed Jamie Riddell around the Council table. Riddell was also at the meeting in his capacity as Dep. Fire Chief and wished Purdon luck “considering the size of the shoes you have to fill.”

A cost sharing proposal for land use planning services currently being provided by Frontenac County for three of the four Frontenac Townships was approved by Council at their monthly meeting on January 17.

The proposal, which calls for hiring of a senior planner on a three year contract basis with the expectation that the position will become permanent, also calls for townships who have been receiving free planning from the department to slowly start paying the full cost of the service.

And that may be a tall order.

The County Planning department has been the contract planner for Frontenac Islands, North and Central Frontenac for several years now, under an arrangement that was solidified just under 3 years ago.

In February of 2015, County Council decided that township generated planning work, including updates to Official Plan and Comprehensive Zoning Bylaws, would be carried out by the county department free of charge. The county does charge for planning work that is initiated by residents or developers, such as zoning bylaw amendments and site plan agreements. But in those cases, it is the applicant who pays the county fee. Essentially, the townships have enjoyed a free service, much to the dismay of South Frontenac Township

South Frontenac has its own department and thus covers its own costs. Since South Frontenac ratepayers cover over 60% of the Frontenac County budget, their members of County Council, Ron Vandewal and John Mcdougall opposed the scheme, which they said amounted to South Frontenac paying for their own planning and also 60% of the planning costs of the other townships

The debate at that meeting included the following exchange, as reported in the News at the time.

Councilor John McDougall from South Frontenac said “I favour a full cost recovery model, which is the fairest way to do this.”

Frontenac Islands Mayor Dennis Doyle, who was also the county warden at that time, pointed out that the two planners on the county staff were not working at full capacity, “The planners are already being paid. Any money that is raised from privately initiated planning applications will help cover those salaries, and South Frontenac gets the most benefit from that. It really is a win-win.”

South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal did not see Doyle's logic.

“I hate to say this but if we don't have enough work for the people we have, then we might consider looking at staffing levels to save money. To me, if any service is going to be offered by the county to one or more townships, it should be paid for by them. Otherwise it's not fair to taxpayers in the townships who do not use the service,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of Central Frontenac, Mayor Frances Smith said that her own council had made the decision to sever its relationship with its long serving contract planner Glenn Tunnock on the understanding that the county department would provide “free service and only private applications would be billed. If that changes then we will have to look at our options again.”

Three years later, the two member county planning team is now over capacity, in large part due to planning demands generated by the three townships, which now accounts for over 40% of their work plan.

Faced with either paying overtime, not being able to provide services in a timely manner, or hiring a third planner, county staff are proposing hiring a planner on a contract basis for three years.

Based on consultations with the Chief Administrative Officers of the member townships, recognising that any other model would “drive up costs for South Frontenac ratepayers” for a service they do not use, county staff are now proposing phasing in a full cost recovery model for the service.

Reserve funds will be used to curtail the impact on local townships budgets in North and Central Frontenac and Frontenac Islands over the next three years, after which time the program can be evaluated. But based on the way the service is being used, the projected costs as of 2021 will be about $61,500 per year for Central Frontenac, $47,500 for North Frontenac, and $36,000 for Frontenac Islands.

While this is popular with McDougall and Vandewal, it is not sitting well with some of the council members.

“We were assured that there was no need for new people if we went for this, but now only three years later we are told something else.” said Councillor John Inglis from North Frontenac.

Trying to put the situation in positive light, county Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Pender said, “the good news is that there have been more planning applications than before. Our economic development initiatives seem to be having an impact.”

Referring to what she said three years, ago, Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith said, “we are going back on the agreement that we would do planning for a nominal cost. I agree we need to pay more, but to pay $61,000 in year four and beyond is a lot of money for Central Frontenac ratepayers.

Kelly Pender said that the townships will have to decide whether they support this because the county cannot support the service within the current planning budget.

“We either add another planner or we get out of the day to day planning business for the townships,” he said.

Noting that the three year phase-in gives an opportunity to evaluate the service before committing to paying the full cost, North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins said “I have no problem supporting this.”

In the end, the proposal received unanimous support at the county table, but each individual council will be faced with their own decision whether to opt in or out.

Despite freezing rain Saturday morning, a full house turned out in Ompah to discuss proposed changes to North Frontenac Township’s Official Plan.

Many of those in attendance were from lake associations and there was one proposed change they were all glad to hear — larger minimum lot sizes and setbacks — even if the proposed changes don’t go as far as some would like.

Many of the comments were like this from Jim Holton, past-president of the Canonto Lake Association.

“We’ve been arguing for larger lots for years,” Holton said. “Water quality is not just about phosphorus.”

“Our available lakefront properties are getting scarce,” said Mayor Ron Higgins. “For example, Mazinaw Lake is at capacity.

“But I think the (County) private roads study will be good for us (and) we’re creating a best-in-class Official Plan here.”

Higgins said he’s pleased with some of the proposed changes that should encourage more affordable housing.

Planner Joe Gallivan said the proposed 250-ft frontage and 2-acre lot size with a 100-ft setback (up from 1 acre and 150-ft frontage) is “a good start” even though it’s smaller than the 1-hectare (2.2 acres) and 300-foot frontage required in South and Central Frontenac.

“It’s protecting the lake better than it is now,” Gallivan said. “(But), there’s more to it than just lot size.

“There are things like is there room for septic, how big can a boat house be, how big can a bunkie be?”

Gallivan is also including changes that will better accommodate the ‘live/work’ building where residents can set up a business in their home and sections to encourage smaller homes.

“There are now 350-square-foot homes that cost $60,000,” he said. “When I retire, that’s what I want to have.”

Gallivan said they’re also working on communal septic and water systems which would require smaller lot sizes to work efficiently.

He said after all the feedback has been considered, he expects to have a plan ready for adoption by the end of the summer.

“Council seems to like the plan so far,” he said.

It has been a long, slow, dance of sorts, but it seems that the County of Frontenac and the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) are about to come to terms over the County's first Official Plan.

Joe Gallivan, the Manager of Planning Services for Frontenac County, said on Tuesday that after a lot of meetings, emails and phone conversations, staff at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs “basically get where we are coming from as far as the kind of Official Plan that fits for Frontenac County”.

On several key issues, such as development on private lanes and setbacks for waterfront development, Gallivan said the ministry has allowed for the kind of softer language that will allow Frontenac County to both encourage the kind of development that county residents are looking for and remain within the parameters of the latest Provincial Policy Statement, which is the basis of all planning activities in Ontario.

“There are some issues of wording where I think they are off base or unclear, but most of them are not important enough for our purposes to fight over,” said Gallivan.

For that reason he recommended that Council accept most of the revisions requested by the ministry in their draft response to the Official Plan that was submitted by the County several months ago.

On 18 specific wording changes in the plan, however, Gallivan recommended that Council not make the changes suggested by the MMAH.

These include a number of measures that, in Gallivan's view, do not belong in a regional plan because they refer to specific locations, such as the Village of Sydenham in regards to water systems. These he said would be best left to the discretion of the Township of South Frontenac's own Official Plan.

Other changes are either unclear, or based on false assumptions.

In one case, for example, the MMAH would like the County to make use of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) database as regards endangered species.

“But we do not have a data sharing agreement with the MNR over that information, so we can't make use of it,” said Gallivan.

While there remain areas of disagreement, Gallivan expressed optimism for the first time in months, that the province will accept a version of the County Official Plan that is acceptable to Frontenac County Council, avoiding a costly and time-consuming appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board.

Once the Official Plan is accepted, it will be County Council, and not the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, that will be the approval body for local township Official Plans.

Township hopes to submit plan by mid-September

South Frontenac Council interrupted their summer meeting break to hold a special meeting on Tuesday, August 11. The only item on the agenda was a statutory public meeting to gather input from council and members of the public regarding the township's draft Official Plan, which needs to be reviewed every five years.

The draft plan has already been submitted to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs for comment, and was the subject of an open house in July that drew 50 people. Along with the draft plan, planner Lindsay Mills presented Council with a summary of all the oral comments from the meeting along with a number of written comments he has received, some as late as this week.

He pointed out a number of points of contention between what Council has said they would like to see in the plan and what the ministry is indicating they will accept.

In 2001, with the adoption of the first South Frontenac Official Plan, a limit of three new lots could be subdivided out of an existing lot, and Council has said it wants to increase that to five lots.

“The ministry has indicated they will not accept that but Council wants it to remain so it is still in the plan,” said Mills.

The ministry is also asking for a new provision, that both Mills and Council consider will be a detriment to township residents hoping to develop their properties without providing any improvement to the environment.

That provision is that all development within 120 metres of any body of water will be prohibited unless a full-blown environmental assessment is done.

“I think this is a problem for us. Our current practice is to seek comment from the relevant conservation authority about waterfront development and they essentially do what I would call a scoped study. If they indicate a full-blown study is necessary we require one. If this goes through it will add costs to private landowners that are not necessary and will change the pattern of development in the township,” said Mills.

As well, the ministry is requiring that “all private lanes be 'condominiumised'” said Mills, which he described as a “solution to a problem that does not exist.” Private lanes in South Frontenac are improved every time there is a new lot created on them as part of the approval process, and the township has been providing funding on an annual basis for the improvement of lane ways.

“Emergency vehicles are able to access properties on those lanes, which is what the ministry is concerned with,” Mills added.

Most members of Council had comments and suggestions to add to those from the public regarding the plan.

Councilor Ross Sutherland thought a provision prohibiting privately run common septic and water systems should be softened.

Councilor Ron Sleeth said the township should stand firm on the five lots, saying, “That has been a good model for development in South Frontenac, and is easier and fairer for property owners than a plan of condominium or subdivision.”

When asked by Councilor John McDougall if he will be waiting for Frontenac County to complete their Official Plan before submitting the South Frontenac plan, planner Lindsay Mills said that as far as he is concerned “It is full speed ahead; this has been delayed for too long. If the County OP comes in while this is in process, we will deal with that at the time.”

Members of Council and the public talked about the idea of introducing something in the plan about a “community fit” in addition to the technical requirements for a plan of subdivision.

Mike Keene, a township resident and planner with Fotenn, which is in the midst of developing two subdivisions in the township, said that the township might consider fine tuning the areas designated as hamlets in the township to fit the geography and patterns of development.

At the end of the meeting, CAO Wayne Orr said that a final draft plan will be ready for Council to consider at a Committee of the Whole meeting that is scheduled for September 8. “If that plan is acceptable, we can look at township approval on September 15, or we can put it off until later if Council wishes to do so.”

Once the plan is approved by the township it will go to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. But the process will not be complete, particularly if, as is likely, the ministry will want further changes.

A complicating factor is that once the Frontenac County Official Plan has been approved by the ministry, the County will replace the ministry as the approving body for township plans