Controversy free planning for development on lakes? – never

Jeff Green | Sep 20, 2017

A lot of people who live in rural areas value their privacy. For those living on lakes, privacy is hard to come by. That view of the water brings a view of other people with it. There are next door neighbours, across the bay neighbours, and boaters and fishers buzzing along the lake whenever they want to.
The attitude of lakefront property owners, and this is played out in planning applications throughout Frontenac County all the time, is basically “last one in bar the door”.

This is not irrational, it is not wrongheaded of people. It is in fact clear-headed. The moment someone buys a piece of waterfront property, whatever they see and hear when they walk out their door on the first sunny morning, is exactly what they have purchased and what they expect to enjoy. Any change is not in their interest.

Now, being realists people know they can not oppose others from buying and selling property and building according to a set of rules that are reasonable for all. One new cottage on a legally constituted lot on a lake, built according to zoning bylaw standards, will not ruin a lake, but a hundred built in a poorly designed subdivision or land use condominium just might.

The role of local township officials is to work with developers in order to make sure that before any proposal that makes it to the stage where it will face public scrutiny it is in a state where a path forward for approving it is there. There may be further changes required, there may be further studies to be done, but everything should be clear, both to the developer and to the public. And there are lots of complicating factors when it comes to balancing out environmental interests for clean water and a robust, diverse watershed with development pressures.

A couple of weeks ago, proponents of a plan of condominium on Loughborough Lake in South Frontenac found out that their proposal, which has been in the works for at least a couple of years, has been put on hold. The reason is that the township planners took a boat ride near the shoreline where the new development was to be located and measured the depth of the water, finding that it is a shallow water body and different rules will have to apply.

Over in North Frontenac the impact of a spawning bed, as well as a shallow shoreline, will surely be felt by proponents of a plan of subdivision on Ardoch Lake. In the case of Ardoch Lake there is an organized opposition to the development, willing to fund their own studies.
The system for evaluating these proposals, is becoming, at least in theory, more consistent and transparent. Township and county planning staff need to work together in a co-ordincated way because township zoning and site plans as well as county planning approvals are always required in every case.

The decision to form a county planning committee, and to include each of the township Mayor’s on that committee, is already beginning to pay off because the committee has political authority. This is in our collective interest because although some of us are lukewarm at best to the idea of development, we cannot thrive as communities without growth. South Frontenac just lost their new manager of development services after 6 months, just when the impact of that position was starting to be felt, which is unfortunate but progress has been made and that should continue.

When it comes down to it, we are all NIMBY’s and why shouldn’t we be.

We all enjoy our properties the way they are. The political system is all about mediating between the NIMBY impulse and a need for growth and the need to be a fair jurisdiction for investment even if there are stringent rules to follow. We also must ensure that environmental regulations are in place both at the time when planning is taking place, and through enforcement later on.

It will never be simple or easy in rural areas and particular on the water but it can be a fair process, although it takes time for the process to be followed and provincial regulations need to be changed to reflect that.
There will always be winners and losers in any planning process on the water. There will be anger and controversy along the way. The trick is to allow for development and protect the lakes and the life that they support in their waters and on their shorelines.