South Frontenac Official Plan

Jeff Green | May 31, 2023

South Frontenac is 20 years removed from the last time it passed a new official plan. When the Official Plan (2003) was approved it was hailed as a forward-thinking document that was designed to ensure that the still new township would be able to balance opportunities for increasing the population through new housing growth with the need to protect the lakes and streams, farmland, and forested areas within a diverse geographical area.

When South Frontenac joined the Frontenac Arch Biosphere (FAB) reserve in 2007, Don Ross, who was the founding Executive Director of FAB, said that the “South Frontenac Official Plan is a model for other jurisdictions” because of the setbacks from water, and commitment to a ribbon of life in waterfront areas, and restrictions on development in prime agricultural areas.

Many of the provisions in the 2003 plan anticipated provincial standards that were brought in soon after.

In presenting the draft of the 2023 plan that will be approved, with only minor revisions, this coming fall, Brad Wright, the township’s director of development services, told those attending a public meeting at the Storrington Hall last week that the “official plan is a balancing act” between the local vision for the future of the township, and provincial directives.

“The provincial directives are changing almost on a daily basis,” he said, “and that has made for changes to the plan as we have been working on developing the final draft.

Wright referred to 3 provincial documents from the last 6 months in particular, Bill 97 which was passed in November, Bill 23 which was introduced last month, and a newly announced Provincial Planning Statement (PPS), which was also introduced last month.

“Through all of this, the idea is to have fair and consistent policies when we are making land use decisions,” he said.

However, in his answer to one of the first questions he was asked from a member of the audience, Wright said that the township has only a limited ability to waver from provincial directives, such as the PPS.

One of the unexpected elements of the new proposed PPS is to permit up to three new building lots on properties that are classed as “prime agricultural land”, a total reversal from the existing policy, which does not allow any new lot creation at all on lands that are so designated.

Given the location of the meeting, in the region with the largest concentration of prime agricultural land in the township, this is a big issue for many in the audience.

When someone said “so the township has the option of whether to go along with the three new lots or not, Wright said “no, not really.”

He then said, “Our hands are ...” and then stopped for a second before saying, “I think the policy can be massaged or we can look at it as best we can, but yes, a lot of direction is from the province and the question is, where is that flexibility?”

Another provincial directive, which has been in place for over a decade, is to focus housing growth in designated settlement areas within the township. These areas are the major hamlets, with Inverary, Sydenham and Verona being the prime focus, followed by Battersea, Harrowsmith and Hartington.

The new OP is based on a projection that 50% of a population growth of 5,400 people over the next 20 years, will take place in the settlement areas, and 50% through rural lot creation. If this comes about, it will be a change from the last 20 years, when rural lot creation has been by far the main driver of population growth.

Later in the evening, Mayor Vandewal expressed his own opposition to the way the official plan process has unfolded. He did not question any of the work done by township staff or Dillon Consulting, the company that has been helping the township with the project, but with the unyielding nature of provincial directives.

His comment specifically addressed lot creation provisions.

“I don’t see why they [the province] are looking at three severances on lands that are already in use for agriculture, and are stopping the creation of new lots on roadways that access marginal lands with little more than rocks on them. I just don’t get it,” he said.

The South Frontenac Official Plan is subject to a statutory public meeting this week, and will then proceed to its final draft.

For further information about the Official Plan, go to Engage Frontenac, click on South Frontenac, and then click on Official Plan Review.