Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-01-17, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2019. PAGE 19. Your Local Paper - The Original Social Media! News / Information / Events / Shopping Community / & More In print, online or on the go, we are your local newspaper. We keep you connected to what’s happening in our communities and surrounding areas. The Citizen www.northhuron.on.ca Facebook www.Facebook.com/NorthHuronCitizen Twitter @TheNHCitizen The Citizen info@northhuron.on.ca Belgrave resident feels LPAT process ignores community After being one of the first issues brought before the recently formed Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT), a property owned by Morris-Turnberry in Belgrave can now be sold and developed. The property, located on McCrea Street, was the back portion of a municipally-owned building for water infrastructure. The previous session of council decided to sever the back portion of the property, as well as some frontage on McCrea Street, to allow the creation of a new residential lot. When the process started, the developer who had provided the successful bid for the property had plans to build a four-unit multiplex on the property. The plan to sell the property elicited a strong, negative response from neighbours, who, on multiple occasions, tried to convince the council of the day to change its mind on the issue and to leave the property as a green space, allowing local children to continue to play there. The previous council, however, felt that the land should not have been used in such a manner in the first place, because it was technically private property owned by the municipality and not designated as park land. After months of discussion, council decided to proceed with the sale to create more residential space and house stock in Belgrave, which prompted the residents, represented by neighbour of the proposed development Chris Palmer, to file an appeal to the LPAT. The tribunal was created last year as a intermediary between municipalities and residents instead of having conflicts go straight to Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) appeals. On Jan. 8, the appeal was dismissed by LPAT, leaving Morris- Turnberry free to sell the property and the developer. Morris-Turnberry Council announced, at its meeting that night, that the sale was now clear to proceed. Palmer, who last year was elected to neighbouring North Huron Council, told The Citizen that he wasn’t happy about the decision and had serious reservations about the LPAT process after going through it as a ratepayer. He first explained that the ratepayers had been given another opportunity to appeal the decision in a more in-depth manner, but said that action was similar to OMB appeals and would likely require a financial obligation. The ratepayers, he said, didn’t want to pursue that, saying they had provided all the information they could in their dealings with LPAT. “When you’ve given all you’ve got, and you’ve got nothing more to give, there isn’t much purpose in going forward like that,” he said. Palmer still feels the development doesn’t fit the surrounding neighbourhood, which Morris- Turnberry’s bylaws suggest it should. He said that, after dealing with the previous Morris-Turnberry Council and the LPAT procedure, he feels that neither cared about the ratepayers of Belgrave. While he is frustrated by the result of the LPAT appeal, Palmer said he is equally frustrated with the lack of feedback from the tribunal. “You get rejected, but there is no indication of why,” he said. “I told them that the municipality executed misuse of power, acted with blatant greed and displayed insensitivity towards children’s safety, and they didn’t even explain their findings. It didn’t matter to them.” The concerned citizens, according to Palmer, presented an opinion that the municipality wasn’t following its own bylaws, but the LPAT didn’t provide any concrete reasons for dismissing the appeal. “The appeal process is pretty strict,” he said. “It follows the guidelines of the various acts and bylaws, but it totally failed to include an understanding of community life. The tribunal didn’t look to the needs of the on-the- ground ratepayers and, to us, that was a major insult.” Palmer said that the experience left him wondering who protects ratepayers when they feel the municipality isn’t working in residents’ best interests. Palmer said he hopes other ratepayers have a better experience with LPAT, especially as a new councillor in North Huron. “If [council members go] the wrong direction, I want the citizens to let us know and, if they have good reasons, I want there to be a mechanism for them to call us on it,” he said. “We have to listen to the people. They’re the ones who vote councillors in.” By Denny Scott The Citizen 210 Industrial Park Brussels, ON N0G 1H0 Tim and Donna Prior tim@brusselsselfstorage.com You store it, you lock it, you keep the key. BRUSSELS SELF STORAGE 519-357-5807 www.brusselsselfstorage.com Units Are Filling Up! Breakfast of champions The Auburn Lions hosted one of their famous breakfasts over the weekend with proceeds going to the Ronald McDonald House in London. Above, Amber Siertsema, left, and Amanda Bos deliver some vittles. The next breakfast will be hosted on Feb. 10. (Mark Nonkes photo) More than half of NH cast votes North Huron’s voter turnout in the 2018 municipal election was just over 50 per cent, which was well over the provincial average. As a whole, the municipality saw just over 50 per cent of voters turnout, with 1,948 voters of a total 3,852 casting their ballots. Province-wide, voter turnout came in at 37.66 per cent, a steep decline from 2014’s 43 per cent turnout. According to documentation from SimplyVoting, the company North Huron employed for its voting process, 400 of 775 Blyth ward residents voted (51.6 per cent), 453 of 848 East Wawanosh ward residents cast a ballot (53.4 per cent) and 1,006 of 2,220 Wingham ward residents voted (40.1 per cent). As far as voting method, 68.7 per cent of North Huron voters used their own internet connections to vote, 9.5 per cent used kiosks provided by the municipality and 21. 8 per cent voted by telephone. Of those who used the internet, 71 per cent used a computer while 29 per cent used a mobile device. The majority of voters cast their ballots in Canada (78 per cent), while three voters (0.2 per cent) were in the United States when they voted and one (0.1 per cent) was in Ireland. The remainder, 21.8 per cent of voters, voted by phone and no country of origin was captured. North Huron Chief Administrative Officer Dwayne Evans said there were problems with the voters’ list which may have had an impact on the total number of voters. That, in turn, could have financial impacts for the election process. He said that two major factors played into the voters’ list problems: boarders and tenants. Both class of ratepayer can change homes without notice, leading to an incomplete voters’ list. Council received Evans’ report. By Denny Scott The Citizen Bailey wants to switch NH Reeve titles to Mayor Following in the footsteps of several other Huron County municipalities, North Huron Council is considering changing the titles for its heads of council from Reeve and Deputy-Reeve to Mayor and Deputy-Mayor. Reeve Bernie Bailey brought the issue to council during its Jan. 7 meeting. The issue will be discussed by council during its Jan. 21 meeting and a final motion, if necessary, will be brought to the first council meeting in February. No conversation was had as Bailey explained that the issue wasn’t up for debate, and instead would be discussed on Jan. 21. Historically, the office of reeve and mayor were separate, with the mayor being a leader on council while reeve was used to describe a council member elected at large. Some municipalities in rural areas have maintained a reeve position instead of a mayor position to represent that at-large election, while others have switched to mayor. North Huron is one of the few remaining Huron County municipalities to have a reeve instead of a mayor. By Denny Scott The Citizen