The Citizen, 2016-04-21, Page 23PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016.
County approves controversial North Huron severance
Against the advice of the Planning
and Development Department and
amid the potential of paying legal
costs out of taxpayers' dollars,
Huron County Council approved a
controversial severance in North
Huron.
At council's April 13 committee of
the whole meeting, council approved
the severance request of Frogstream
Holdings, care of Hank Kikkert, in
East Wawanosh. The severance has
proven to be controversial, in that it
contravenes a number of planning
policies, including the North Huron
and Huron County Official Plans
and the Provincial Policy Statement.
Despite this, it has not drawn any
objection from the public, said the
Kikkerts' lawyer John Schenk.
Schenk told councillors that the
severance makes sense for a number
of reasons. While the property is in
an agricultural area of North Huron,
it is zoned residential and natural
environment, due to a large stream
running through the property.
As the Kikkerts enter the next
stage of their lives, they hoped to
sever the property along the stream
and build a new, smaller home on the
retained parcel, which will require
less upkeep.
While the severance may not make
sense in terms of planning policies,
Schenk said, if one were to actually
visit the property, it makes perfect
sense. The property includes a large
amount of bush and a sharp drop-off
that leads to the large stream. It then
does the same on the other side of
the stream, leading back up to the
small parcel of property the Kikkerts
hope to retain.
Schenk said that the proposed
severance line is a natural boundary
evidenced by the fact there have
been no objections to the application
by the Maitland Valley Conservation
Authority and a letter of support has
been received from a Huron County
land surveyor.
Director of Planning and
Development Scott Tousaw,
however, warned council against
approving the application due to a
number of issues.
With absolutely no basis to
approve such a severance, he said, he
felt the proposal would most
definitely be appealed and when it is,
the county would have no way to
defend its decision. The ultimate
outcome of the decision, he said,
would be that the county would lose
upon appeal and would be on the
hook for legal costs, which would be
borne by county taxpayers.
He likened it to the recent Vodden
application. The county engaged in
numerous studies in the hopes of
approving the application, which
similarly contravened a number of
planning policies. However, the
county dropped out of the process
before it could have been found
legally liable and Tousaw said this
application was very similar.
Councillors, however, saw it
another way, saying that the Vodden
application sought to affect prime
agricultural land, while the Kikkert
application is in an area zoned
residential, which makes it very
different.
Several councillors stated that this
application was an example of
planning rules being crafted in urban
centres and not necessarily applying
to rural settings properly. And while
Tousaw was correct in saying that
the county might not have a legal leg
to stand on, councillors felt this was
one of those situations where rural
Ontario had to push back against its
urban policy -makers.
Tousaw reiterated the precedent
that could be set as a result of the
decision, saying there are
approximately 9,000 lots that could
apply for a similar severance. If
council approves the Kikkert
application, he said, then how can
council say no if and when the
owners of those lots file
applications.
"If council says yes to this, how do
you say no to the next 100
applications?" he said.
Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn
agreed with Tousaw, saying that
while in his heart he may agree that
the Kikkert application is just, he
said approving it isn't the way to
bring the fight to the province.
"In a perfect world, I'd like to
approve this," Ginn said. "To me, we
need to fight the province on this
before we allow this."
Council decided to approve the
application as submitted through
North Huron Council. After the
appeal period, if no appeals are filed,
the severance will come into effect.
Spring cleaning
The recently -formed Blyth garden group, which replaced the Blyth Horticultural Society after it
disbanded, was busy with its first organized activity of the year: a spring clean-up at some of
the village's gardens. Here, Allison Elligson, left, and her sister Jessica VanderWal took on the
Blyth Greenway Trail on Sunday. (Vicky Bremner photo)
NOTICE OF CHANGE
Attention: Residents of Grey and McKillop
Effective April 28th, your
waste and recycling day
and week will change.
Recycling and waste north of
Moncrieff Rd. will now be collected
on Fridays of the opposite week.
Moncrieff Rd. south will continue
to be collected on Thursdays but your week has changed.
Your last normal Thursday collection will be April 21st.
Your collection frequency will remain biweekly. See your new
calendar in the mail for details or download it from www.bra.org
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
For any inquiries contact us at 1.800.265.9799 or info@bra.org.
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