Photo Karen Graham.
Council is hoping to attract employment to the farm property of the late Mel Morton on Syer Line.
Cavan-Monaghan purchased the agricultural property located at 1066 Syer Line in November 2019. Close to Highway 115 and set amongst commercial neighbours such as Todd Equipment, Iron Ore Equipment and Camp Mart, the property was seen as an ideal candidate for redesignation for an employment purposes to attract jobs to the area. Ownership allowed the township to proceed directly to the process of changing the zoning through Official Plan and Zoning By-Law amendments, with expert staff and enthusiastic support of local decision makers. It has also provided a case study on the bureaucratic process of land use planning amendments, putting the municipality in the shoes of property owners attempting a similar feat. It has been an eye-opening experience.
Peterborough County is the approval authority for changes to Official Plans. The process begins with a pre-consulting process where required background studies are identified, which are all peer reviewed by outside agencies including Conservation Authorities, the Ministry of Transportation, and Stantec, a private infrastructure firm.
Five background studies were required to support an application for the proposed amendments. They included an Agricultural Impact Assessment, an Environmental Impact Assessment, a hydro-geotechnical study, a traffic impact study and a storm water management study. More than two years into the process, Executive Director of Planning and Development reported at the last Council meeting that the first three studies were complete and peer review comments were being reviewed by township staff, while the Traffic Impact Study had only just begun, after discussions about what would be required given the fact that no specific development for the property has been established. The costs for these studies is estimated to reach $85,750 by the time they are all complete.
Staff are now preparing background documents and a planning justification report for Council approval. The OP and zoning amendments will then be the subject of a public meeting.
Should things progress as expected, the process to establish an employment zoning for this location will have taken two years and four months. This is precisely the process that is completely by-passed through a Municipal Zoning Order, like the one requested for the proposed Kawartha Downs development.
Once the OP and Zoning amendments have been approved, the focus moves to the specific nature of the plans for the property. That is where site controls, minimum distance separations and other studies come into play. This stage normally take at least another year, but often much longer. For example, the Northhill development took almost six years of planning approvals before the ground was broken, even with support at every level of government.
For the township, getting the employment zone established might be the end of the road, but Council could decide to go further to create a business park or something specific to stimulate job creation. Given the lead time required for such an endeavour, it’s more likely that Council will divest the property to a buyer with an appealing job creating plan or leave the development decision to the next Council. KG
