Return Of Gravel Point o-op Plan rekindles Neighbours' Concerns

Jeff Green | Jul 10, 2025

On May 20, Craig and Amber Hall submitted a letter to North Frontenac Council, along with a lengthy engineering report supporting the third submission they have made to North Frontenac Council in support of an unusual zoning amendment application on Palmerston Lake, an iconic lake near Ompah.

The Halls own a 34 acre piece of land that includes a point, Gravel Point, on Palmerston Lake, accessed by Lafolia Lane, a private lane off of Lake Road. They are proposing to change the zoning of the property from “Rural Area” to “Rural Cooperative Area”. There is a precedent for a land use co-op in North Frontenac. Over 50 years ago, the Lothlorian land co-op was approved in Palmerston Canonto Township, a precursor township to North Frontenac. Since that time, a number of houses have been constructed and lived in at Lothlorian, which still exists.

The Halls intend to build up to 7 new residential cottages on their property, focusing the development on an 8-acre parcel within the 34-acre property, called the Western Parcel, also known as Gravel Point. In addition to the 7 cottages, ranging from 1-3 bedrooms, the planning report supporting the application contemplates community building, two bunkies, waterfront areas, three waterfront gazebos, a workshop, trailer site, two marine storage sheds, a boat dock and a swim dock, and a number of pathways between all the buildings.

“We have a dream of having a wonderful place for generations of our family and we love Palmerston Lake,” the Halls said in their letter to Council, and have no intention of using the property for any commercial use.

The proposal came before Council in 2023, resulting in a two-hour meeting, during which time a number of neighboring property owners raised concerns about the project, cenetring mainly on the unique nature of Gravel Point, which, among other things, is surrounded by the largest trout spawning bed on Palmerston Lake.

Palmerston Lake is designated by the Province of Ontario as a “Trout Sensitive Lake” but unlike other such lakes, including Eagle Lake, west basin of Sharbot Lake, Crow and Silver Lakes, Palmerston is not an ‘at capacity lake’, which would bring major restrictions on development.

The meat of this latest submission is an 80-page environmental impact assessment prepared for the Halls by the engineering firm, Gemtec. In addition, comments and responses to The Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority, and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, are included in a large package of material about the project that is available to the public at engagefrontenac.ca

The matter is now before the Frontenac County Planning department, which provides planning services for North Frontenac Township.

Sonya Bolton, the Manager of Community Planning with Frontenac County, said in an email this week that her department has been consulting [with federal and provincial agencies] on these applications and will be including their comments in our final report to be presented at a future council meeting.

It is in this context that the Palmerston Lake Association (PLA), a 100-member group of Palmerston Lake residents, is beginning a new wave of advocacy for their position, which opposes the rezoning request that, if approved, will allow the Halls to develop Gravel Point.

In a paper they released last week (July 4) the group outlined their concerns.

They oppose the project on the basis of density.

“The applicants want to rezone the property to Rural Co-operative so that they can build 5 of their proposed 7 new cottages on Gravel Point, a narrow, steeply-sloped peninsula of no more than 2 hectares. This amounts to 2.5 cottages per hectare, a density that is more than double the maximum permitted under the current zoning by-law (1 dwelling per hectare.

Another major issue for them is the risk to the trout spawning bed.

“Lake trout require clear gravel free of silt to spawn, and we believe that this development will inevitably cause silting no matter what mitigation measures are proposed. Scientific studies have shown that the increased boat traffic around the point will definitely be detrimental to lake trout spawning activity. Lake trout are already declining in Palmerston Lake due to other factors. Let’s not add another one to seal their fate.”

The association has raised a number of concerns over the years, in writing. They even commissioned a planning report of their own, to counter some of the claims made by Gemtec. They are concerned that the information posted at EngageFrontenac.ca only includes information from the applicant and commenting agencies, and does not include opposition voices. Their submissions are only available by request to the township.

They are urging Council to convene a second public meeting to consider all points of view on the matter, especially considering that the first public meeting took place over 2 years ago and the proposal has changed since then.

“The Ontario Provincial Planning Statement encourages public participation for projects

impacting natural resources, water quality, or ecological systems. Two and a half years have transpired and many more facts are now evident regarding the impact of this proposed dense development. The PLA believes it is essential to have a second public meeting so that everyone can be heard,” concludes their July 4 statement