Dysart et al council put on a united front last week, unanimously denying support for an application from a Toronto-based development firm to amend the township’s Official Plan, which could have paved the way for a new 25-unit subdivision on Elephant Lake.
Project details were poured over for hours during a public meeting Sept. 23, with council following municipal staff’s recommendation to deny the proposal. Since Dysart is not the approving authority for OP amendment applications, the file can still be taken to County council for a final decision.
Led by NF 95 Developments, the ‘Algonquin Gardens’ project is split into two phases – northern and southern. Council spent the bulk of last week’s meeting deliberating over the northern application, which sought to redesignate 97.6 acres east of Elephant Lake from rural area to site-specific waterfront residential.
While not directly on the water, the applicant claims the lots “will have access to waterfront through a common access block located on the southern phase.” Kris Orsan, Dysart’s manager of planning, disputed this claim.
“Re-designating the lots would be inconsistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) because the lots do not function as waterfront and their approval would represent an expansion of waterfront policies to lands that are distinctly rural in nature,” Orsan said.
He noted the northern phase does not directly front onto Elephant or nearby Benoir lakes, which are separated by a public road – Benoir Lake Road – and other intervening lands.
Orsan said the lots do not functionally or physically relate to the shoreline and that designating them as waterfront would “artificially extend the scope of shoreline development beyond the actual shoreline, without the direct relationship to the lake that the PPS policies are intended to regulate and protect.”
He said the lots identified in the northern phase meet the definition of backlots per Dysart’s OP.
“Allowing backlots to be reclassified as waterfront… would undermine the intent of the municipality’s OP policies for waterfront development,” Orsan added. “Such an approach would create a precedent where backlots across the municipality seek reclassification to waterfront lots through artificial linkages, effectively eroding the protective policies intended to manage shoreline capacity, environmental impacts, and land-use compatibility.”
The planner further claimed that many of the lots are too small or narrow to meet the standards normally required in rural areas, while some are affected by wetlands, floodplain and steep slopes.
In his report, Orsan opined that 14 of the 25 lots may not be developable at all.
“The proposed subdivision plan appears to overestimate the number of realistically developable lots. Many of [them] do not appear capable of accommodating appropriate building envelopes that would support compliant and functional development,” Orsan said.
Jeff Iles, Dysart’s director of planning, said rural properties are required to have a front lot line setback of 30 metres, though many of the lots included in the application propose a 7.5 metre setback.
Council received 32 submissions from the public opposing the application, with 12 people speaking at the meeting. Catherine Webber, has been a property owner on Benoir Lake for over 30 years. She delivered a petition containing more than 1,000 signatures to council.
“We feel this developer has clearly disregarded the rules,” Webber said, claiming some work has already been done, without approval. Tony Wang, a consultant representing the developer, said a road network originally installed in the 1980s has been recently upgraded to allow for improved access to the site.
Many of the residents expressed concern over the possible environmental impacts, including habitat loss for native wildlife; issues removing important wetlands could have on drainage in the area, as well as water quality; and the size and suitability of the proposed development.
Mayor Murray Fearrey said the file had been with the township for some time and had put “tremendous pressure on staff… the goalposts keep moving all the time.”
After staff said council could consider deferring the application to have several reports submitted by the applicant peerreviewed, deputy mayor Walt McKechnie and councillors Pat Casey and Nancy Wood-Roberts said they had no intention of supporting the proposal. Coun. Barry Boice also commented, “I’m not against development. But we have to protect the environment. I don’t think we need to defer, I think we need to deny.”
Orsan noted the southern phase of development is for 38 residential lots. Because that land is already designated waterfront residential, there’s no required change to the township’s OP. Instead, the application is to approve the subdivision and condominium plans as presented.
The planner again noted that many of the lots appear to be constrained by natural heritage features, including provincially significant wetlands and floodplain areas. He also noted the road meant to service the lots, connecting to Benoir Lake Road “appears to cross areas prone to flooding.”
Orsan also called the application’s lot dimensions into question, saying several have frontages near minimum standards. He added numerous lots show non-compliance with rear yard setbacks for dwellings and septic systems, with others not laying out where accessory structures or wells would be installed.
“Many of the lots appear to have littleto-no viable building envelopes due to environmental constraints,” Orsan said, recommending the township get all submitted studies and reports peer reviewed before making a final decision.
Council agreed to defer the applications to allow for a “comprehensive review.”
