Haliburton County council has opted against appealing a recent Algonquin Highlands decision to rezone land near Halls Lake so the owner can establish a hobby farm and build a secondary residence.
The lower-tier council signed off on an application to redesignate Tim and Laura Kegel’s six-acre property on Little Hawk Lake Road from Shoreline Residential Two (SR2) to Rural-Exception (RU) on May 29. The township’s planner, Sean O’Callaghan, had recommended the file be turned down after learning it did not comply with the County’s official plan.
County CAO Gary Dyke told council June 11 that he didn’t believe this was a major concern.
“What I reviewed, it was a technical aspect where both [Algonquin Highlands’ and the County’s] official plans require access to a property directly from a public roadway. That’s what’s missing here,” Dyke said, with the only access coming from the neighbouring Shalom on the Lake property, which is owned by Tim’s sister.
The application has been opposed by the Halls & Hawk Lakes Property Owners Association (HHLPOA) and several of the Kegels’ nearest neighbours. A petition calling for Algonquin Highlands to turn the proposal down was signed by 565 people.
In a letter submitted to County council ahead of last week’s decision, HHLPOA president Shelley Fellows said her association’s concern “is rooted in the significant risk [the amendment poses] to Halls Lake water quality.”
The Kegels want to raise livestock on the property and have been approved for a total nutrient unit (NU) threshold of 1.5, which should allow for up to four pigs and some chickens. NU refers to the amount of nitrogen and phosphate nutrients generated by livestock and poultry. In Ontario, one unit is defined as the nutrient value equivalent to 43 kilograms of nitrogen or 55 kilograms of phosphate.
With the Kegel property located within 120 metres of Halls Lake, Fellows contends it should have remained SR2. By introducing farm animals that close to the water, the lake association is worried about possible contamination.
Liz Danielsen, the County’s deputy warden and Algonquin Highlands’ mayor, said no concerns were raised through the environmental impact study and nutrient management strategy the Kegels had done last year, while officials from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Agribusiness (OMAFRA) and Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) expressed no issues.
“It almost seems… that [the opposition] wasn’t down to the health of the lakes, it was down to the number of pigs,” Danielsen said. “The property in question is surrounded by other rural parcels in similar proximity to the lake… and they could do exactly what the applicant wants to do without having to apply for it.”
Fellows said many of those properties received RU designation “decades ago, well before the impact of our landbased activities on water quality were understood.”
Coun. Lisa Schell pressed on the issue of access, asking what would happen if the current owners of Shalom decided to sell. Danielsen said there is a legal right-of-way connecting the Kegel property to Little Hawk Lake Road – common practice in situations involving shared driveways or access to landlocked properties.
Dyke said County council had to make a decision at last week’s meeting, with a response required by June 21. He did not recommend appealing the decision.
“It would have to be a very egregious matter before it came to County council to ask them to appeal the decision of a duly elected lower-tier municipality,” Dyke said. “I don’t think it meets that standard in this case.”
With the passing of Bill 23 in 2022, neighbouring property owners no longer have the right to appeal development decisions made by local councils to the Ontario Land Tribunal. Instead, that falls to certain advocacy groups such as conservation authorities.
With no such entity in Haliburton County, Fellows said HHLPOA has confirmed that, as an incorporated community group, it is entitled to appeal. Members discussed the situation at a June 18 meeting, though a decision was not available by press time. The association has until June 23 to file.
