The Citizen, 2018-01-18, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018.
Council supports Cowbell zoning, but has concerns
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
A temporary zoning change that
could be re -issued indefinitely for
Blyth Cowbell Brewing Company
has raised a few eyebrows with
North Huron Council.
As the company is actually located
in Central Huron, North Huron was
only invited to comment on the
application and couldn't push for
approval or dismissal, however there
were several concerns shared by
councillors when the temporary
rezoning was presented during
council's Monday night meeting.
The change would allow Cowbell
to host events including concerts and
festivals on property east of County
Road 4 while having parking and
camping on Cowbell's property west
of County Road 4.
The document would allow
Cowbell to host events up to five
times a year. Each event could be
three days in length with at least
three days before the next event
begins.
The change was discussed at
Central Huron earlier in the evening
where concerns were brought
forward and comments from North
Huron staff were presented. Those
comments, however, were not vetted
or approved by council due to the
timing of the two meetings.
Comments included concern with
lands affected by the zoning change
being used for camping when North
Huron operates a fully -serviced
campground in the village.
Staff were also in support of
festivals, concerts and other
activities happening on the land
owned by Cowbell on the east side
of County Road 4 as well as parking
located on properties on the west
side of County Road 4, accessed via
County Road 25.
Council agreed with staff's
comments that the Blyth
Campground at the Blyth
Community Centre should be the
primary campground for visitors and
that overflow camping could be
permitted on Cowbell land for
events.
Huron County Planner Laura
Simpson said the zoning change had
been deferred by Central Huron
Council in light of concerns brought
forward by North Huron staff,
council and ratepayers.
Aside from the comments from
staff, council had several comments
for future discussions regarding the
temporary zoning change.
Councillor Bill Knott said he had a
variety of concerns from both
himself and ratepayers, saying one
of his primary concerns was having a
competing campground so close to
the community, even if it was
temporary.
His next concern was that the date
of Central Huron's next meeting was
Feb. 5, the same as North Huron's,
providing no official chance for
council to seek public input.
Knott also took issue with the fact
that large volumes of traffic would
be on County Roads 25 and 4 when
these events occur and said there
wasn't a plan for that kind of
congestion or the kind of pedestrian
traffic that would be created by
having parking and the
venue on opposite sides of County
Road 4.
Moonshine over Lost Sheep
The Blyth and District Community Centre hosted an adult broomball tournament over the
weekend. The Moonshiners of Harriston took on the Lost Sheep of Brussels with the
Moonshiners claiming a 1-0 win in overtime. It was the Moonshiners' Brooklyn Butcher who
broke the deadlock. (Hannah Dickie photo)
Bill 148 could see more increases
Continued from page 1
and possibly increase again because
of that change," she said.
The Blyth Festival also faced the
implications of Bill 148 during
budget time according to General
Manager Rachael King.
"The only hourly staff we have are
the front -of -house employees," she
said. "Everyone else is on salary."
She said there are five employees
and that, combined with the Festival
increasing its season length this year,
it doubled the cost of those five
employees.
"We planned for it," she
said. "This is the reality and, as
of Jan. 1, we knew we had to
deal with it. We have to find
the means to make it work
because we need those people"
King said the price was taken into
account as part of a big -picture shift
that the Festival faced when
planning for this season.
Peter Gusso, who owns two Part II
Bistro restaurants with his wife
Sarah, said they anticipate Bill 148
will have more of an impact on their
Blyth location than their recently -
opened location in Goderich.
"It's tough, that's for sure," Peter
said. "The Blyth location is slower
than the Goderich location has
proven to be this time of year and
having these increased costs doesn't
help."
Gusso said that everything from
the minimum wage to the paid sick
days will impact the restaraunt's
bottom line, but he also pointed out
that there will be a trickle-down
effect as far as his taxes and North
Huron taxpayers are concerned.
"We can see it at the North Huron
level with the 14.7 per cent draft
budget that was recently discussed,"
he said. "No matter what number
they land on, it's going to be an
increase and that has an impact on
people on both sides of the
restaurant business."
Gusso said he will evaluate his
food prices later in the year once the
full impact of the bill is realized, but
he guessed the changes would likely
increase between 10 and 12 per cent.
"It's going to hurt," he said. "It's
going to affect a lot of people. There
is no doubt about it."
Simpson explained that a traffic
safety plan would be completed for
each event, however Knott wanted to
see a sample plan submitted before
the rezoning was approved.
The potential permanence of the
change concerned Knott as well. He
said in his reading of the legislation
around the temporary zone change,
there was no time limit on how long
Central Huron could continue to
approve it.
For being "temporary", Knott said
it could become quite permanent as
it was a three-year change that could
be renewed at any point for another
three years, and another, and
another. Simpson did not refute the
claim.
"There is no comment as to when
you have to stop using your cornfield
as an event space," he said, asking if
Cowbell could put up structures on
the land.
Simpson explained that the land
would only be temporarily used for
events when Central Huron
approved it, so any structures would
have to meet the permanent zoning
of the land being used, both of which
are agricultural.
Finally, Knott asked how the
change would affect taxation on the
land.
"What happens with [the
Municipal Property Assesment
Corporation (MPAC)]?" he asked.
"How will it be taxed if it's being
used for commercial purposes."
Simpson said she couldn't answer
that, which didn't surprise Knott as,
when he contacted the company,
MPAC wasn't able to provide an
answer either.
Reeve Neil Vincent Vincent asked
what percentage of the lands could
be used under the zoning change,
with Simpson saying everything in
the two addresses listed could be
used.
Other concerns included entrances
to the properties, both location and
the requirements that they would be
built to and future considerations for
Blyth if these events are advertised
as being `Blyth" events.
Vincent said he had an "off-the-
wall" notion that a segment of Blyth
Road be transferred to North Huron
to allow them to better service the
lands if necessary.
"There may be services that are
required, and, maybe something in
the long range is a strip along the
south side of Blyth Road could
actually come to North Huron from
Central Huron," he said. "That
would be a long, drawn-out
process... I would like for North
Huron, in the future, to be able to
cross the road and do the servicing
on sewer and water that are part of a
North Huron system without having
to go through the rigamarole of
cross-border servicing."
Despite the concerns, Knott said
North Huron wanted to extend a note
of support to Central Huron Council
and the applicant, provided safety
concerns were met.
Council directed staff to send an
updated later to Central Huron
including comments from the
discussion.
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