Ardoch Lake condo project drops two waterfront lots, gets NF Council support

Craig Bakay | Sep 16, 2020

(Editors note - this article was altered from the version that appeared in the prin edition - Vol. 20, no.37 - September 17. the change was made to delete the statement that Councillor John Inglis voted against supporting the Ardoch Lake Condominium proposal. Councillor Inglis voted in favour of the proposal, but against another motion)

After the developer, through its environmental consulting firm, EcoVue Consulting Services Inc, addressed Council’s and the public’s concerns, North Frontenac Council withdrew its objections to a condominium development on Ardoch Lake and will recommend passage to the Frontenac County Planning Advisory at its regular meeting Friday in Plevna.

The Council meeting was held in a hybrid format with the mayor and several councillors and staff in person in the Council Chambers delegations, members of the public and press followed along on the Webex format. Coun. Wayne Good participated via telephone and Coun. Fred Perry was not in attendance as he is recovering from a medical procedure.

Speaking for the developer, Beverly Saunder of EcoVue told Council that the previously proposed 17 waterfront lots have been reduced to 15 (all of which are at least two acres in size) in order to accommodate a minimum 77 metre lakefront frontage, as per the Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw. Two additional non-lakefront lots have been added to keep the total number of lots at 23 units.

As for other concerns, such as lake development capacity remaining, docking and storage (particularly for boats), Saunder seemed to address them to Council’s satisfaction.

In order to keep the communal docking area as small as possible, Dep. Mayor Gerry Martin suggested individual docks no larger than 6 feet by 18 feet be allowed except where that might interfere with the walleye spawning area.

“Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks calculations already detailed significant ‘residual capacity’ on the lake even if this entire development were used a ‘permanent residences’ (an unlikely scenario),” Saunder said. “Including the ability for up to 13 new lots depending on the use (more if tertiary septic systems are in place as with this development).

“This updated proposal will increase this residual capacity by one to four lots depending on septic system and use.”

She said impacts from encroachments into the wetland and heron colony setbacks will be mitigated in accordance with the recommendations of the environmental impact study which have been approved by the conservation authority and are consistent with provincial guidelines.

Mandatory septic inspection system

Bruce Moore, president along with Ken Grant and John Grindrod of the North Frontenac Lake Association Alliance (NFLAA) presented to Council a potential plan for mandatory lakefront septic reinspection, which, they said, was based on data they obtained from the Township and designed to mitigate any future potential problems.

“Why are we doing this when there is no data to suggest we have a problem?” said Mayor Ron Higgins.

“There is a suggestion,” responded Moore. “There’s not a significant amount of data to suggest there isn’t a problem.”

Coun. Wayne Good took exception to Moore’s comparison to the Walkerton situation saying, “Walkerton is not comparable.”

Good was also concerned that mandatory inspection might lead to an increased tax burden for residents but Grindrod said “we’re putting the onus on property owners.”

Council suggested the public works manager examine the proposal and bring back a report to a future Council meeting.

When the delegation suggested the next Council meeting, Higgins responded that “we won’t be able to do it for the next meeting,” suggesting a six-month timeframe might be more realistic.

“I don’t want our public works manage spending too much time on this, he has a lot of other things he’s working on,” said Good.

Revamping Tapping’s Landing

A revamping of the Tappings Landing boat launch parking area is doable, Public Works Manager Darwyn Sproule told Council.

He said no parking signs can be installed and “it’s due for a brushing anyways.”

Council cold to tower opposition

Opposition to a proposed 300-foot communications tower to improve cell phone and perhaps internet connections didn’t gain any traction with Council after Coun. John Inglis asked that a letter from a resident Paul Smith expressing concern be brought forward for discussion.

One of Smith’s concerns was that the tower would be placed in an Area of Natural or Scientific Interest (ANSI).

“I understand it would be on the very edge of the ANSI,” said Coun. Fred Fowler, who lives close to where the tower would be located. “And there are already two gravel pits on the ANSI.

“There are a lot of seniors looking forward to having the tower there for health and safety reasons as communications there aren’t the best.”

“It’s the same size as the one on Malcolm Lake,” said Mayor Ron Higgins. “Often, after it’s been up for awhile you don’t even see it anymore.

“We, as a Council, have to be ready for ‘not in my backyard’ complaints as we’ve been supporting more cell and broadband infrastructure.”

Fire prevention week

Council designated the week of Oct. 4-10 as Fire Prevention Week.

Fire Chief Eric Korhonen said there would be no public gathering to commemorate the events.

Fire Prevention week is observed each year during the week of Oct. 9 in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, which killed more than 25, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres of land.