HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-01-17, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2019. PAGE 19.
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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
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Brussels, ON N0G 1H0
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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