Building permit issued for seniors’ housing project

Jeff Green | Aug 12, 2010

A five-unit affordable living housing project on Clement Road in Central Frontenac got the green light in the form of a building permit last week.

“We are pleased to have the building permit in place,” said Jane Drew, the general manager for North Frontenac Not-for Profit Housing, which is sponsoring the project. “It has been a long slog getting to this point.”

The project received provincial funding support through the housing office of the City of Kingston about 14 months ago, but has been mired in zoning delays and a hearing before the Ontario Municipal Board, as well as a last-minute issue around compliance with a site plan agreement with the township’s planning department.

The site plan agreement between North Frontenac Not-For-Profit Housing and the Township of Central Frontenac stipulated that the building must be located 30 metres or more from some low ground that has been identified as a wetland by Mississippi Valley Conservation (MVC).

A group of neighbours, who have been actively opposing the project from the start and who took the zoning approval to the Ontario Municipal Board last year, also contested the assertions about setbacks in the surveyor sketch that was submitted to the township by the housing corporation.

“We are convinced that as per the municipal board hearings that the setback of 30 metres from the wetland is undo-able,” said Roy Sepa, who owns the adjacent property to the new development and is a member of the group opposing it.

Earlier this month the group approached the township and asked them not to issue a building permit. They also approached MVC.

Staff members from MVC and the township met on the site on August 3 last week. “We are here only as a commenting agency, at the request of the township. We are not here as a regulatory agency” said Diane Reid of MVC.

A biologist from MVC found that the edge of the wetland was at approximately the same location as indicated by the surveyor, but there was a question about the high water mark.

The next morning, Reid was on site again, along with the surveyor. After that meeting, a building permit was issued.

For her part, Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski said she is supportive of the project and is pleased that the project will now be going ahead. In her re-election website both “development of housing geared for seniors” and “sound municipal planning” are listed as ideas that Gutowski actively supports. “I believe this project is a step forward for our township,” she said. “It will only provide housing for a few seniors, but it is a start.

When contacted on Monday August 9 this week, Roy Sepa said he had not yet heard back from Mississippi Valley Conservation, but even the issuance of a building permit will not spell the end of the group’s determination to stop the project.

“We are still solid in our opposition, and we want to ensure that the right things are done, that all of the rules are followed. We are not done with this at all.”

When asked what their next move might be, Sepa said, “Just watch us.”