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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-05-25, Page 22 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, May 25, 2016 Walton residents frustrated after being left out of pavement plan Shaun Gregory Huron Expositor The 2017 International Plowing Match and Rural Expo has liter- ally paved its way to Walton. However, some folks from their own committee are wondering why the cement trail has halted on the half of the road in which they live on. A few residents down the road from where the event will take place showed up to the May 17 Huron East council meeting to question why the concrete project is covering Section 580 and not Section 590 as listed on the exist- ing road condition map. According to that map provided by the municipality, it states the location is a gravel road that's not built up. From what was said by the IPM committee members last Tuesday, the unfinished lane is dangerous. Cheryl Ryan, Co -Chair of Life- styles for the IPM committee, addressed council and said it does not make sense to stop at the end of the street, especially because of the state the pathway is currently in. "You need a four-wheel drive vehicle to drive it. We've had vehicle damages numerous times that we had not reported to coun- cil. Now through your report we've been ignored," said Ryan to council concerning the mile and a quarter stretch on Canada Com- pany Road. "Now you are saying all the other roads need repairs, so you're going to start over with them. Does that mean it's going to be another 20 years before we see anything?" In the recent report provided by council, it stated there are cur- rently 36 rural roads that have surpassed their longevity, putting them in a category known as a 'critical age.' To Ryan's knowl- edge, she believes those roads in need are expected to be paved in the future, nonetheless leaving the construction of the 42000 block out of the question. The Mayor of Huron East, Bernie MacLellan, understands where Ryan is coming from, but also admitted that the additional project would cost $65,000. That's not including Huron East's labour costs, an undertaking that will be hard to achieve, since it's not labelled as a through road. Ryan suggested that instead of using concrete, they widen the stony lane, which will make it easier for large farm machinery to utilize during the 2017 IPM. As estimated by the municipal- ity and admitted by the mayor, to construct a 2 km gravel build up that's 22 -feet in width instead of the pavement, is actually more expensive. Along with the budget cuts handed down to Huron East, the mayor said at this time, it's not possible for the portion of Section 590 to be added to the construc- tion list. "This year alone, I do believe the figure was $2.5 million was cut out of the Public Works budget. It's something council needs to address and we need to figure out our priorities," he said. "Everybody would love to have a paved road in front of their place, it's probably not going to be an option. At least in my lifetime." Deputy Mayor Joe Steffler agreed with Ryan and could not come to grips with council as to why the construction would stop at that location, a setting that sees about 50 vehicles per day, some of which are large farming machines. "To me it's like shingling half the roof from the north side and leaving the south side without anything," said Steffler when council was asked their opinion on the matter. "If we can afford the money to build one part, I realize the traffic isn't there, but stopping at Roxboro Line doesn't really make sense to me." In conjunction to additional help from the government, par- ticularly the Ministry of Huron East passes amendments to official plan First "good cover -to -cover update" of the plan since 2003, according to Huron County senior planner, Claire Dodds Justin Prince Special to the Expositor Huron East municipal council has passed a large amendment to its offi- cial plan after more than a year of discussions and debates. The changes will affect areas such as agriculture and development in urban settlements, as well as how properties can be divided for use in all wards. The updates were adopted by the municipality through Official Plan Amendment No. 8 during a public meeting at council May 17. Overall, 14 different areas had changes or revisions made in the plan. Council's adoption of the updated plan is the second -last step needed to complete, what has been a 15 -month process so far. The revisions were made to the official plan to make it consistent with the policies of both the Ontario government and the county. Prior to the amendments, the strategic plan had not had "a good cover -to -cover update" since its creation in 2003 according to Huron County senior planner, Claire Dodds. "The Planning Act directs munici- palities every five years to look and see if (its policies) need to be updated or not," said Dodds after the public meeting. "We decided that because of the changes to the provin- cial and county policies that we needed a pretty significant update" Dodds explained the most signifi- cant changes are being driven by the province by both the 2014 Provincial Policy Statement -which sets guide- lines and requirements for the deci- sions made by communities across Ontario - and updates to its Planning Act. They were also made to keep up with the county's official plan as well as the municipality's land require- ments for its 20 -year arrangement. One of the more significant changes to the plan includes the removal of the minimum distance required between a surplus house severed off of a farm property and a barn capable of holding livestock on a neigbouring lot. Dodds explained that before the change, one of the decision-making factors to approv- ing the creation of a new lot was how close the house was to any barns as well as how big it was. It will still apply if a barn is on any retained land that is not going with the sev- ered lot. "Depending on the size of the live- stock barn and the livestock type, those distances can often be quite large," said Dodds. "Now on a going forward basis, when we permit sur- plus dwelling severances, we don't have to run that calculation with that PAGET'S PLACE .ANTIQUES COLLECT.ABLES • THRIFT SHOP BUY & SELL We would like to invite everyone to the opening of Paget's Place Antiques Thrift Shop Seaforth's very own "little curiosity shop': The doors will be open to public on Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at 9:00 AM. Our store is proud to offer antique furniture, as well as, useful and re -purposed used furniture, artwork, hand -made crafts and a variety of gift items, jewellery, gold and silver collectables and many more interesting items for everyone in the family. We also offer a buy and sell service: gold and silver items, jewellery, china, watches and Military items such as all Medal Awards, Decorations, Orders and Badges. We ask that the seller be 21 years of age or older. We try to pay top prices for your coins but due to the fluctuations in the market regarding gold and silver, prices vary daily. We welcome you to come in for a quiet, private meeting to discuss your collectables. There will be tasty treats to welcome you on our opening day and we look forward to meeting you all! n eet South, th, rio NOK Paget s Place C14 ontact: Liz and Peter Paget r• Phone:519-600-2297 house being severed and the lot being created ... that makes it easier to sever surplus dwellings from farms" The amendments also set new reg- ulations for development within its hamlets. Some of those changes include setting new standards for developing subdivisions and condo- miniums, allowing homeowners to have a rental unit inside their house and removing a separation distance rule for group homes to correspond with the Ontario Human Rights Code. Huron East will also now have the option to split 150 -acre farm lots into 50 and 100 -acre properties commu- nitywide. As well, it will have the ability to recreate 75 -acre lots on Canada Company Road in McKillop Ward. "The blocks north and south on Canada Company Road in the ward are only one mile through as com- pared to most being 11/4 miles. This made it difficult to meet the 94 -acre retained parcels of land requirement for Huron East's policies for severances in the area; said McKillop Ward Coun. Brenda Dalton, who noted the size of the lots are unique compared to other townships in an emailed response. "This change will go back to recogniz- ing the original 75 -acre parcels to com- plywith the severance policy." Another significant amendment made to the plan includes allowing a variety of new uses for agricultural land. The updates will allow for agriculture - industrial -commercial operations and other on-farm diversified uses. It also has added framework to allow secondary uses for wineries, such as allowing them Justin Prince A pair of road signs at the intersection of Roxboro Line and Canada Company Road is pictured in Walton, Ont. May 19. Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Huron East CAO Brad Knight has recently talked back and forth with Cathy Lasby, executive director for the Ontario Plowmens's Associa- tion. Lasby is speaking on behalf of the municipality, with the expectation of maybe receiving possible funds. "At this time, we have not received any details on potential funding or the criteria for such funding," stated in a document consulted by Knight, Paula Michiels, treasurer' finance manager for Huron East and which was provided by Public Works manager, Barry Mills. Justin Prince Huron County senior planner Claire Dodds speaks to Huron East municipal council about each of the amendments being made to its official plan during a public meeting May 17. to add a restaurant on-site. The amend- ment also adds recognition to agritour- ism - tourism generated by farms or ranches - as being a growing industry in the province. "I think we're well positioned to have growth in our on-farm diversified uses," said Dodds to council. "There's a lot of impressive innovation happen- ing in our agricultural community. Having these policies where we can let some of these uses grow and develop on our farms I think is going to really position Huron Eastwell economically in the future" Dodds said the adopted plan will be going to Huron County's Committee of the Whole for review. The plan will then be voted on for approval by county council sometime in June. Anyone interested in reading the full list of amendments can go to http:// www.huroneast.com/index. php?sltb=plan.