Maberly Residents Lose The Ability To Weigh In On Rehab Centre

Jeff Green | Feb 14, 2024

A number of Maberly residents, concerned over the potential impact of a proposed addiction treatment centre targeting individuals with substance abuse disorder who are awaiting trial, were disappointed last week.

They were waiting to see a planning report on the rezoning request by Spencer Kell, the owner of the building, who is seeking to permit it to be occupied by as many as eight program participants and one or two staff members.

The property, located at 261 Maberly Elphin Road, is owned by Kell, and the program will be managed by Love Soluble, a not-for-profit charitable corporation that was federally registered in 2023.

But instead of releasing a report dealing with the re-zoning application as expected, the Tay Valley Township planning department reversed course.

On Thursday (February 7) Jessica Younes, a Maberly resident, received an email from Alison Playfair, planning assistant with Tay Valley Township.

The email reads, in part: “After further discussion with the owner, a board member of Love Soluble Incorporated, and the township solicitor, the planner has determined that a rezoning under the Planning Act is not required for 261 Maberly Elphin Road.

“Instead, the use proposed has been determined to be a Group Home. As defined in the township zoning bylaw, “Group Home shall mean a single dwelling which is occupied by 3 to 10 unrelated residents who, by reason of their emotional, mental, social or physical condition or legal status, require a supervised family living arrangement for their well-being. A group home may be occupied as the residence by the staff or receiving family. A group home does not include foster homes, boarding houses or other uses defined herein.”

Section 3.5 states that, 'Group homes shall be permitted in the General Residential, Rural and Institutional zones…'

“Therefore, a Group Home is an as-of-right permitted use and does not require a zoning amendment.”

The email goes on to point out that the proposed group home, which is being called the Manie Daniels Centre by Love Soluble, does not meet one of three requirements for a group home in the Tay Vally bylaw. It meets the requirement that there be only one group home for every 1,000 Tay Valley residents, and that no two groups homes be located within 500metres of each other, but it does not meet the minimum distance provision.

That provision says that “the minimum distance between a group home and a dwelling on another lot must be 30 metres”

The remedy for that would be variance from section 3.5 of the township's zoning bylaw, and an application for that variance will be considered by the Tay Valley Township's committee of adjustment at a meeting on March 18, 5pm, at the township office.

One of the differences between an application for a “zoning amendment”, which was originally being considered, and a “variance”, is that a zoning amendment is subject to a public meeting in front of the entire township council, followed by a vote during a subsequent council meeting

A variance, on the other hand, is dealt with directly by the committee of adjustment, which in the case of Tay Valley is a three member panel which is appointed by council. The Tay Valley Committee of adjustment members (Richard Schooley, Peter Siemons, Larry Sparks) are citizen appointees and are not members of Council.

There is a provision for public participation at the Tay Valley committee of adjustments. The meetings are open to the public. After hearing a report from the planner, presentations can be made for or against the proposal by “any other interested parties” in the words of the township website.

“The committee considers all presentations for and against your proposal and renders a verbal decision in the presence of all interested parties at the time of the public meeting,” the site goes on to say.

Jessica Younes told the News that she was planning to address the zoning amendment application at the public meeting which had been scheduled for this week.

She said that is well aware of the scourge of addiction, but that locating a treatment centre withing metres of the home where she is raising young children to house people with substance abuse disorder who are implicated in criminal matters from larger communities throughout the region does not sit well with her.

She was intending to address the matter with council at the public meeting for the zoning application, and is disheartened by the planner's decision to eliminate that process in favour a more narrow process, dealing only with the setback issue.

“I feel like something is wrong but I'm not sure what it is and the two counsellors that I spoke with this morning don't have any more information than I do,” she said, in an email to the News.

She said that she is working with other community members to see what they can do to protect themselves against what they see as a threat to their family's safety.

The change in timing, scope and venue impacts plans to present a petition opposing the change in land use, as well as a number of oral and written submissions that were set for the public meeting that has been cancelled.

At the hearing, the Township Planner will present the Report to the Committee. Presentations may also be made by any other interested parties in support of or in objection to your application. The Committee considers all presentations for and against your proposal and renders a verbal decision in the presence of all interested parties at the time of the Public Meeting. An approval of your application may be subject to such conditions and/or restrictions as the Committee deems appropriate. If an individual wishes to receive a copy of a Committee decision their request must be in writing.

Before changing course, the township planner, Noelle Reeves, told the News that council could only consider land use planning issues when looking at the zoning amendment. Questions about the specific use of the building as a treatment centre could not be part of council's consideration.

Impacts of the increased use of the house on the septic system, and the creek that abuts the small property, could have been part of the consideration but for the minor variance only the setback issues is relevant.

It is unclear if concerns other than those of the one neighbour located less than 30 metres from the property can be considered by the committee.

In an interview with the News last week, Spencer Kell said that the admission policy for the Manie Daniels Centre will be restrictive. Any history of mental illness other than subtance abuse disorder will make an individual ineligible, as will any history of physical or sexual abuse. The centre will also be restricted to men.

“Volunteering in the community and being available for anyone looking for labour, will be a central part of the treatment,” Kell said.

He also said that the Manie Daniels will require major funding, likely from federal or provincial sources, and that renovations to the building, which are well underway, are being funded personally by him.