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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 11, 2008 - Special Council COUNCIL MINUTES THE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF BAYHAM 9344 Plank Road, Straffordville Thursday September 11,2008 7:00 p.m. OFFICIAL PLAN 5-YEAR REVIEW SESSION The Special Meeting of the Council of the Municipality of Bayham was held on Thursday, September 11, 2008 in the Committee Room. Present were Mayor Lynn Acre, Councillors Wayne Casier and Ed Ketchabaw, Administrator Kyle Kruger and Deputy Clerk Margaret Underhill. Public Attendees: Brent Stewart, Honor Wassing 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Acre called the meeting to order at 7:22 pm. 2. DISCLOSURE OF PECUNIARY INTEREST & THE GENERAL NATURE THEREOF None 3. DELEGATIONS (a) 7:23 pm - Derek Dudek, Municipal Planning Consultant IBI Group,was in attendance to discuss Items 4(a) and(b) and the Draft Official Plan. 4. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION (a) IBI Group Memo dated August 18, 2008 "Follow Up to Public Information Session held July 17/08 re: Official Plan 5 Year Review Boundary Re-organization" D. Dudek informed Council that there was several land owners in attendance at the July 17th Information Session held in the Municipal Council Chambers. He expanded on the concept of a trade off of specific urban designated lands and agriculture lands. He added that there might be consideration of removing lands from the Vienna urban boundary due to their proximity to services and topography. He noted that the Vienna map is not changing at this time but could consider this if the Ministry requests it. Overall,the OP Review removes only 15.5 hectares of land in the agriculture designation. D. Dudek continued by saying that the requests submitted by Mr. Graydon and Mr. & Mrs. Reimer to change land to Estate Residential is difficult to justify to the Ministry. He Special Council Meeting Minutes -223 - September 11, 2008 stated that his opinion is unchanged in that these lands are not restricted from being used for agricultural purposes and should remain for such purposes. D. Dudek expressed support for the southerly expansion of the Bayham Industrial Park south of Hwy 3 to match the proposed Town of Tillsonburg designation changes. When asked about locating new industrial land next to a Natural Heritage designation, D. Dudek referred to the Draft OP page 3-15 for a specific policy for lands next to ANSIs (areas of natural and scientific interest)requiring an Environmental Impact Study (EIS). (b) IBI Group Memo dated August 25, 2008 re: Rural vs. Prime Agricultural land designations in the Municipality of Bayham D. Dudek reported that the province still considers tobacco lands as "specialty crop soils". Referring to Paragraph 2) of his memo dated August 25, 2008, he went on to briefly explain that by re-designating a portion of Bayham as "rural", the municipality could provide for additional uses consistent with the PPS including resource management, i.e. forestry, sand/gravel; resource-based recreational activities, i.e. hiking, biking, skiing trails; and limited residential development. D. Dudek continued on with Paragraph 3) by stating that in order to pursue a"rural" land use designation, we must first establish that a portion of the Municipality is not a"prime agricultural area". Councillor Casier asked if the Class 4-7 soils, which are considered to be unusable lands, could be used for residential. D. Dudek responded by saying that site- specific consideration of the lands would have to be justified by the owner that it's not prime agricultural lands. He added that there might be consideration for limited residential development on lands based on the justification of soil types. He explained that it would be necessary to put in clear policies that may permit residential on agricultural lands and place the onus on the owner to justify the proposed lot. Mayor Acre asked as to whether or not we could pursue this when the County Official Plan is adopted. K. Kruger responded by saying that it would be best to pursue it now with the Ministry or we would have to amend it ourselves with the County Plan when in place,which most likely would not be for a couple of years. Councillor Ketchabaw asked as to what Oxford County has for policies for residential in agricultural lands. D. Dudek responded by saying that he likes the Oxford County policy as it maintains the same goal. He added that the policy looks at woodlots on Class 4-7 soils and keeping away from agricultural and livestock uses. Consensus of Council was to include the policies similar to Oxford County regarding residential use in agricultural lands and to include all "rural"uses in the policies. (c) DRAFT Official Plan of the Municipality of Bayham—5-year Review Special Council Meeting Minutes - 224 - September 11, 2008 D. Dudek briefly explained that the restructured Official Plan reads easier and for ease of understanding the draft the proposed changes are highlighted in blue. He explained that the goal is to start circulating the draft to agencies and the Ministry as soon as possible and to post the Notice for Open House right away. He added that after the Open House any required changes will be made and the Public Meeting will be scheduled. Councillor Ketchabaw referring to Section 2.1.7 Farm Consolidation and Surplus Farm Dwellings and paragraph 2.1.7.2 c)asked why the policy is there for only one per parcel. K. Kruger responded by saying that paragraph 2.1.7.2 c) was put in place prior to the A2 zoning,which prohibits new residential development. D. Dudek stated he would review the policy for redundancy now that we have the A2 Zone. Councillor Ketchabaw stated that the old houses on farms that could be severed and used is better for the municipality as a residential lot than having them rented out by farmers who really are not interested in being landlords. Councillor Casier referring to Section 2.1.10 Supplementary Farm Dwellings asked about the policies of surrounding municipalities. D. Dudek responded by saying he reviewed Oxford and Norfolk's policies and understood that Council was looking for a more permanent policy in dealing with this issue. He went on to explain that through a minor variance to the Committee of Adjustment a farmer would have to satisfy specific criteria: need, existing dwellings, location, size and type, services and vehicular access. Councillor Ketchabaw asked if this policy would apply to all farm sizes to which D. Dudek responded in saying that the "need"criteria would have to satisfied but did suggest that clearer wording in the "need" section would be warranted. Councillor Casier suggested that a farmer be required to show a farm registration number to justify the need for more seasonal help and that this number be required on the anniversary date of the minor variance approval. Referring to Section 2.1.10.2, Councillor Ketchabaw supported the agreement including "removal" clauses to control the supplementary dwellings. He also asked if the policies would apply to all farm sizes to which D. Dudek responded by saying that the intent is to apply the criteria to all farm sizes. K. Kruger confirmed that the agreement can cover a time period where it has to be revisited with follow-up, enforcement and inspection. M. Underhill confirmed that the cost of the Minor Variance is $2000 at time of application, being $1000 minimum with a$1000 deposit. D. Dudek confirmed that the properties currently with temporary zoning in place for supplementary farm dwellings will have to go through a minor variance application prior to expiry of their temporary zoning. He also confirmed that changes will have to be made to the Zoning by-law removing policies for supplementary farm dwellings. D. Dudek continued in the draft pointing out that Section 3 Rural Area Policies would be expanded to include the previously discussed rural policies and in Section 3.3.1.i) acreage for Highway Meadows will change in the future as the owner is seeking to expand the park with the Ministry. Continuing on with Section 4 Settlement Area Policies, D. Dudek pointed out that policies regarding residential intensification within settlement area for low density Special Council Meeting Minutes -225 - September 11, 2008 development would be added. D. Dudek added that in Section 4.4.1.4 a clause was added requiring development in Eden to connect to the existing municipal sewage system. He explained that the servicing is required in Port Burwell, Vienna and Straffordville and that Eden would be required as well. He acknowledged that there might be urban areas that cannot connect due to topography and financial issues. K. Kruger added that for a developer just to say that it is not feasible is not justification and to say that it is only financially inhibitive is not enough justification. K. Kruger stated that the sewers were put in to resolve problems with small lots and water quality. D. Dudek spoke of developers proposing major growth should be required to connect to the services as the infrastructure was put in for that purpose. He suggested tightening up the wording of Section 4.4.1.4 and the new Section 5 to acknowledge that there are areas that justifiably cannot be serviced. In Section 4.7.3, D. Dudek noted that the Special Policy Area No. 3 - Chateau Wyndemere lands would have the predesignation in the OP but that this does not preclude them from fulfilling the Ministries' requirements. Also, Section 4.7.4, Special Policy Area No. 4—New England proposed lands have been added for the purpose of permitting lots on an infilling basis. The discussion moved on to Section 5.3.3 - Large-Scale Wind Energy Systems and the proposed removal of the boundary limitation. K. Kruger noted that in 2001 the boundary was a safeguard to restrict wind farms to the south of Calton Line. He added that if the current wind farm policies are suitable then this limitation could be removed. Mayor Acre stated that she wished to think about this and consider it at a later time. D. Dudek pointed out the new Section 5.3.4—Large-Scale Renewable and alternative Energy systems has been developed in the Township of Malahide and formulated similar and are already Ministry approved. He noted that it could be determined later as to how the municipality would deal with private turbines in residential areas. Councillor Ketchabaw questioned Section 5.3.2 paragraph c) and if this considers industrial on prime agricultural lands. D. Dudek stated that is geared to solar farms that can take up a large amounts of land and that this section looks at renewable energy systems and how it can benefit the population. D. Dudek continued on by requesting Council to review the section on goals and pass along any changes that they may wish to this section. He pointed out that Section 8 includes updated notification rules and requirements. He outlined the changes to Schedule "A"and added that there are no changes to Port Burwell, Vienna, Straffordville and Eden urban boundaries. He indicated the changes to the urban boundaries of Calton, Richmond,North Hall and Corinth. There was consensus of Council that after D. Dudek has incorporated the "rural"policy changes; reworded the servicing policies and made the text/mapping corrections as discussed that circulation of the draft OP proceed and that staff determine the date of the Open House. Special Council Meeting Minutes -226 - September 11, 2008 5. ADJOURNMENT 2008-457 Moved by W Casier Seconded by E Ketchabaw "THAT the Council meeting be adjourned at 8:46 p.m." Disposition: Motion Carried / -&) °/M.1L- MAYO DEP TY CLERK x 1t) ac>a�? Date Approved