A proposal for a new 73-child daycare in Haliburton village was presented to Dysart et al council for the first time Oct. 28, with elected officials supporting the plan.
An application to temporarily rezone 5152 County Road 21, which houses Haliburton County Development Corporation’s ‘The Link’ space at the front of the building and previously served as Patient News’ head office at the back, was advanced last week.
Kris Orsan, the township’s manager of planning, said the applicant was seeking a five-year term for a temporary use bylaw that would allow a daycare. He said the township could only authorize a three-year term, due to rules in Ontario’s Planning Act,
“Upon expiry, the applicant may request additional exceptions of no more than a three-year period each iteration,” Orsan said.
He noted the proposal aligns with Dysart’s official and strategic plans.
“By providing accessible childcare, the day nursery directly supports the strategic priority of enhancing community wellbeing and helps build a more inclusive and supportive environment for young families,” Orsan said.
The property is owned by Haliburton Lumber and Enterprise, which operates Haliburton Timber Mart on the neighbouring property. The daycare will be run by Jennifer Cid, who attended last week’s meeting.
Online records show Cid registered a new corporation, Best Care Ever Inc., in August. She’s proposing to have up to 15 staff at the site.
Cid told council she’s eager to renovate the property so she can get the daycare open as soon as possible, but Orsan said she requires a building permit. Her proposal needs to be approved by the County, which has requested a traffic brief – showing how the daycare may impact CR21. Chief building official, Karl Korpela, indicated a building permit will only be approved once the County signs off.
“You can always apply for the building permit to do the renovations… but you take the risk that something goes off track with the planning approval, so you could be renovating a building that may not get the ultimate approval,” Korpela said. “You can apply to start doing the renovations at any time.”
There was no indication of a timeline for County approval, though mayor Murray Fearrey, who sits on the upper-tier council, felt that was a formality.
“This is certainly needed – there’s 140 daycare spaces needed in the County,” Fearrey said.
