Re: Bill 23 Editorial

Roger J. Hogan | Jan 25, 2023

I am presently of the opinion that you may have missed the mark by a little bit in the above mentioned editorial.  You imply that the Council of the Township of North Frontenac would essentially be flying by their boot straps in making a decision on the proposed zoning bylaw amendment.

Development as it was defined and I think it still is defined, as a proposal that includes an application pursuant to the Planning Act.  As a zoning bylaw amendment is an application pursuant to Section 34 of the Planning Act, the proposal would be defined as "development"

The Ministry of Environment has for probably for at least 30 years, has stated that any development that occurs within 300 meters (1000 feet) of a lakefront lake will have a negative impact on that lake and the fish that are within, and all such development should not be allowed.

As I am unable to confirm that the said development is within the 300 meters, although I strongly suspect that it is, as such, the decision of Council should not be as difficult as what is implied in your editorial.

Aside from the foregoing, these same restrictions are or were to be included in the policies of the relevant official plan, so as such, the decision of the conservation authority is only intended to support the decision Council has already made when they adopted their official plan.

What is missing from the equation as proposed by Bill 23 is the ability of the Council to pass on the responsibility for making the decision to some other body.  Council Members have to make a lot of important decisions during their tenure on Council and for far too long, when it came to the Planning Act, Council decisions have often reflected the financial benefit to the municipality that could arise from a development and to a lesser amount the environmental impacts of same.  As stated by CAO Kelly Pender and quoted in your paper, it will be quite some time before we realize the full impacts of Bill 23.

- Roger J. Hogan