South Frontenac Council - Elements Outdoors Rezoning And Mayor Miffed Over Orser Road Calming

Jeff Green | Jun 19, 2025

Elements Fitness zoning application

Buoyed by a positive planning report, and an ambitious plan to transition the elements Fitness gym business into a not-for-profit entity devoted to fostering a healthy community for people from all walks of life, Tanya Heyman outlined her plans to South Frontenac Council at a public meeting last week (June 10)

Before beginning her presentation, she acknowledged that some of her neighbours were concerned about the impact of the plans on the local water supply, noise and light pollution, and traffic.

The pointed out that before Tanya and her husband Brad Heyman's purchased the 20 acre property in 2016, it had already been used as a gym, and regularly had 100-150 people on the property at any given time.

Since purchasing the property, they continued to operate a fitness and wellness business on the property, using the gym and the outdoor spaces for programming. They have opened up the property to new uses, including a market garden and Community Supported Agriculture serving 20 families and summer campers and staff at Elements. Tey also raise organic chicken and eggs. Elements offers classes for young and old, including Zumba, Yoga and more, and a children's summer camp.

The original gym business has been radically altered over 10 years into something much broader, Heyman told Council.

This all led to the latest change, and the reason a zoning amendment is required.

“In November of  2024, a small group of like minded community members, including us, rallied together to change our current organisational structure from Elements Fitness, where Brad and I were the sole proprietors, to Elements Outdoors, which is a registered non profit organisation.”

She said that they made this change because they could not serve all the members of their community, including some of the people who needed it most, under the old structure. A focus on children and a children's summer camp is a major part of the new plans for the site.

Specifically in regards to the application, she said that water has not been an issue in the past, either for themselves or their neighbours, as far as they have been informed. They have two wells on the property, gather water from the roof of one building, and have a spring on the property.

The Heyman's planning consultant, Richard Doherty pointed out that what they are proposing is in line with the planning direction of both the Provincial Policy Statement, and the South Frontenac and Frontenac County Official Plans. This positio was supported by South Frontenac Director of Planning Christine Woods, in her preliminary report on the application, which seeks to expand the zoning “to permit a community service, retail store, craft shop, nursery or garden centre and studio.”

Adam King was the first to speak on behalf of “a group of concerned residents” While he does not oppose the intention and principle of the project, he is concerned about the scale and scope of it, including “overnight accommodations, commercial kitchen, retail stores, programing, public events, and increased traffic and noise, represent a drastic shift from the quiet rural environment of the surroudingf neighbourhood”

He also said there is a significant concern with the vagueness of the proposal, which he said “leave the door open for future mis-use. The broadness and scale of the zoning does not effectively set limits on what can and cannot be done on the property.”

He also said that there are water shortages in the vicinity, and about potential threats to endangered species in the vicinity of the site, and encouraging the township to order an environmental assessment.

Another neighbour said they have had issues with water at his property in recent years and would like to see a study to determine whether they share and acquifer with the Elements site,and with potential traffic issues on a small, rural road.

As far as potential water issues are concerned, the Mayor asked if water could be brought in, if necessary, and Councillor Trueman asked if Christine Woods would indicate whether a hydro-geological study to determine water impacts of the changes being contemplated at Elements Outdoors.

Christine Woods said that when looking further at the proposal a determination will be made if “further information is required” from the applicant. She also said that the township could apply site plan control to the property, in order to address some of the non-water related concerns expressed at the meeting.

The matter will return at a future date.

City Plan for Orser Road Anything But Calming For Mayor Vandewal

The City of Kingston sent a letter to South Frontenac outlining their intention to put in “traffic claming” measure on their portion of Orser Road, which also runs into South Frontenac.

“Orser Road has been selected by the Country Side District 1 as part of the Annual Traffic Calming Program to receive Type 1 Minor Traffic Calming Measures. The proposed measures include "SLOW" line paint markings, peripheral transverse bars, and a driver feedback sign,” said the letter, which came from Mark Dickson, Manager, Transportaion Systems with the City of Kingston.

The letter goes on to request that the measure be extended onto the Frontenac County portion of the road: “We would like to see similar treatments implemented along the shared section of the roadway with South Frontenac. The City of Kingston will cover all costs associated with the installation and maintenance of the road markings and driver feedback sign. The anticipated timeline for this work is June 2025. We would also be happy to share any pre and post speed data collected if desired.”

This did not go over well with Mayor Vandewal.

“I;m not in favour of the City of Kingston imposing their traffic restrictions on South Frontenac,” he said, “if it is their portion of Orser Road, that's up to them, but I have seen no consistency in the traffic calming of the city, and I think their terrible, and I don't want to see them in South Frontenac.”

Director of Public Works Troy Dunlop said the City is proposing three “SLOW” stencils in the South Frontenac portion, and a speed sign indicating how fast drivers are going as they head into Kingston.

A motion asking staff to send a letter to the City of Kingston indicating the township will not participate in “traffic calming” on their portion of Orser Road.