Highlands East residents, and organizations such as the Paudash Lake Conservation Association (PLCA) and the Crowe Valley Conservation Authority, have reiterated their concerns about the Granite Shores development on Centre Lake – even though the proponent has made more changes to its original plans.
Highlands East held a public meeting Oct. 7 on a proposed official plan and zoning bylaw amendment.
Municipal planner Chris Jones said Granite Shores wants to build a subdivision on 115 hectares of the 431 hectares owned. The land abuts a 200-foot Crown Reserve, with the first 66-feet an original shore road allowance established prior to the reserve.
The shoreline has been arguably the most contentious issue to date. Highlands East council did not support the disposition of the Crown Reserve in 2021. It also voted not to close and convey an unopened road allowance in 2024.
Jones said the revised plan calls for 18 lots, and two island lots, for detached dwellings; 13 backlots for detached
dwellings; four open space blocks; a block for commercial use on Hwy. 118 and a common private road.
He said the policy exemption being sought, in part, “would acknowledge public ownership of the Crown Reserve and shore road allowance, and the right for the public to continue passive recreational use of the shoreline.” The rezoning would be to open space for recreation, and shoreline residential. Further, natural features and
recommended buffers would be used for environmental protection.
Ritee Haider, a planner at Arcadis, said they had heard concerns since 2021 about loss of public land, impact on the
environment, the scale of the development, appropriate servicing and health impacts. She said they had made changes, with more refinement to come. For example, they removed a wellness centre and 60 hotel suites.
She said they are now looking at up to 33 seasonal cottages, with the Crown Reserve and shore road allowance not included. “It’s still accessible to the public …” She said the cottages would be pushed back from the shoreline, have their own septic and wells, and there would be public hiking trails and lake access. She added they would have commercial development and a condo road would be maintained by a condo corporation. She said technical studies found the plan “was environmentally feasible” provided mitigation measures were followed, such as setbacks from wetlands and minimal tree removal. She added they believe the lake has enough capacity and found no significant highway traffic impacts.
“Centre Lake will continue to be used as it is today, whether it be for boating, fishing, kayaking or paddleboarding, That will not change.” She further said they would provide an additional and safer public boat launch and campers would not see the cottages.
“In our opinion, the revised proposal conforms to the relevant planning documents, it supports tourism while
protecting significant natural features on the property, conforms to the County of Haliburton official plan, and meets the intent of the Township of Highlands East’s official plan.”
Deputy mayor Cec Ryall asked, “is there any way to restrict access from those cottages to the lake directly or will they be able to put trails and boats in?”
The proponent said lots would be adjacent to Crown Land, which is open to the public, including cottagers. However, there would be minimal tree removal for trails and no docks.
Ryall responded, “If someone was to go deeper into that 200-foot with development, how are we going to ensure that gets resolved, if not stopped?” A number of people spoke out against the project, and a petition was tabled.
PLCA concerns
Mike Thomas of the Paudash Lake Conservation Association touched on most of the concerns.
“While the new application does not contain the 60-unit condo resort building or the 200 ft. wide Centre Lake Crown
shoreline reserve, we continue to have concerns about the future implications of the development as well as its current impact,” he said.
He suggested Highlands East or the County assume ownership or management of the reserve from the MNRF to maintain public lake access, or support a First Nation doing so.
People are also worried that another developer has applied to purchase the public Crown reserve on the other side of the lake to build 35-40 cottage lots.
The PLCA wants to ensure the public can still camp; they’d like fencing between the private lots and public reserve, with gates to access the shoreline; they feel the proponent is overstating economic benefits; uncertainty over the use of the unopened municipal road allowance; the type of ownership and seasonal use of the cottages is unclear; the impact on municipal infrastructure; radon gas; and the need to monitor lake health.
Neither Highlands East council or the County of Haliburton has made a decision on the file.
