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04 07 1993 Public Meeting , I, HB CORPORATION OJ' HB TOWNSHIP 01' ORO SPBCIAL PUBLIC lIBBTING WBDNBSDAY. APRIL 7.1993 , 7100 P.M. - COUNCIL CHAMBBRS POURTBBNH lIBBTING 1991-1994 COUNCIL The following members of Council were present: Reeve Robert E. Drury Deputy Reeve David Caldwell Councillor Alastair Crawford Councillor Joanne Crokam Councillor Leonard Mortson Also Present Were: Mr. Nick MacDonald, Mr. Bernal Johnston, Mr. E.R. Fleming, Mr. Dale Plant, Mr. George Tran, Mr. George Scott, Mr. Mike Scott, Mr. Paul Strachan, Mr. Earl Robertson, Mr. Eric Scott, Mr. Phil Master, Mr. H. Houben, Mrs. B. Houben, Mr. J.S. Gourley, Mrs. Janet Kiff and Mr. Ray Kiff. staff Present: Kris Menzies, Planner Reeve Robert E. Drury chaired the meeting. Reeve Robert E. Drury opened the meeting by explaining to those present that this Public Meeting was to receive public comments wit respect to a proposed Official Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendments, under sections 17 and 34 of the Planning Act, 1983. The applicant has applied to redesignate and rezone certain lands described as Part of the West Half of Lot 10, Concession 10, (Houben). To date, the Council of the Corporation of the Township of Oro have not made a decision on this application, other than proceeding to this Public Meeting. only after comments are received from the Public, requested agencies and Township Staff, within the appropriate time period, will Council make a decision on this application. Notice of the Public Meeting was mailed out on March 19, 1992, to all property owners within 120 metres of the subject lands. Notice of the Public Meeting was also placed in both the Barrie Examiner and the Orillia Packet on March 19, 1992. eeve Robert E. Drury then asked the Clerk if there had been any correspondence received on this matter. The Clerk responded by indicating that two letters had been received as follows: a) William M. Holdsworth: -objecting to application on basis of two properties in area already rezoned for subdivisions; -concerned with water quantity and impact on water supply of existing homes in the area. 'l - 2 - b) Jarratt-Coulson and District Community Group (J. Hare): -objecting to proposal as it exhibits scattered residential development; -the development is in an agricultural area; -not adjacent to existing hamlet -increase traffic on existing roads. The Reeve then stated that those persons present would be afforded the opportunity of asking questions with respect to the proposed Amendments. He then turned the meeting over to the Township Planner, Ms. Kris Menzies, to explain the purpose and effect of the proposed Official Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendments. Kris Menzies: The purpose of this evenings amendment is to allow Council to have the opportunity t hear Public comment on an application to redesignate and rezone Part of the West Half of Lot 10, Concession 10, in the municipality. The proposal is to redesignate the propert from its current Agricultural designation to Estate Residential designation in the Official Plan and to rezone the property from Agricultural to Estate Residential in order to permit the development of a 29 lot, single family residential Plan of Subdivision. Mr. Nick MacDonald from Lehman and Associates is here and he probably has mor details regarding the proposal. Nick MacDonald: The Houbens retained our services, we are Planning Consulting Company in Barrie, bac in 1989 to provide them with advice, respecting their property. We conducted a very quick review of their property and determined that the property was ideally suited for Estate Residential development. The property has an area of approximately 18 hectares or 45 acres. It is now the site of the residence of the Houben family They also run a business out of their home called Hightrack Elevator Incorporated and they do have two out buildings on the property in which they store equipment. Adjacent land uses include some rural uses to the east of the property. The lands have been cleared in the past but have not been in any type of intensive Agriculture production at the present time. Lands to the north have also been cleared. At one time there were some crops on the property but at the present time, to the best of my knowledge, there is not. Approximately 40 metres to the north of the property boundary is a barn which is used to house horses and sheep. The property on which - 3 - Nick MacDonald: the barn sits is very rolling. To the north and west of the Houben property is a 50 acre Simcoe County forest. To the west of the property is the Knox Presbyterian Church and apparently there is a small grass air strip in this area. To the sout of the Houben property is the location of the Scott silo Plan of Subdivision. The Official Plan Amendment permitting the subdivision has been approved by the Minister of Municipal Affairs in December of 1992. It will permit the development 0 approximately 30 lots. At the present time, the subdivision has also been draft approved. That is, they have given the development conditional approval upon the fulfilment of a whole series of conditions relating to water supply, drainage and the entering into a Subdivision Agreement. As a result for intent and purposes, the development of the property to the south, will go ahead. To the south and west of the property is one lot that was created b severance, right at the corner. Further t the south and to the west, agricultural uses. The property generally drains from the north to the south to a culvert which runs underneath County Road 11, approximately a this location. (Indicated on Map) The drainage then travels down County Road 11, eventually entering into the head waters for Bluffs Creek which eventually goes int Lake Simcoe. Vegetation on the property; approximately eighty percent of the property is current I treed, most of it with reforestation. There is an area on the property, about tw to three acres in size, which is the site of a mature hardwood bush and I will talk about that area in more detail later. There is a cleared area through the centre of the property which at one time was planted with Christmas Tree seedlings but has since been abandoned. Topography on the property; generally the land slopes from the northeast corner towards the southwest corner. What the Houbens plan to do is develop 29 lots on the property. Each of the lots will be a minimum of 4000 square metres in size or about one acre. However, the lots in some instances have been made larger fo a number of reasons and consequently the average lot size on the property is actually 5,089 square metres or 1.2 acres. The access to the property will be gained by two access points on Oro Line 9, setbac a sufficient distance from County Road 11, so as not to cause any site line problems. The roads in the interior of the subdivision will be considered as public roads and will be paved with asphalt, - 4 - Nick MacDonald: gravel on the sides and complete ditching, all to the Township of Oro specifications. The Houbens plan on dedicating an area about two and one half acres in size at th northeast corner of the property, as parkland. This is the most ideal site on the property, in my opinion because it is the site of a very mature hardwood bush an it would serve as an excellent nature area As we get further on into the process, it will be determined what exactly will be done with that block in terms of playgroun equipment, for an example, or whether that is required or whether it will be left in its natural state. The Houbens plan on continuing to live on the property and have ask that a lot, approximately 6 acres in size be left for their use. This lot is located in this area. (Indicated on map) There is no intention to further subdivide this lot in the future and therefore there will be arrangements made so that will not occur i the future. In terms of trying to support the development of the property, we have undertaken a number of studies, an Agricultural Impact Assessment, a Hydrogeological Assessment and a Drainage Plan. I will run through each of those in a bit of detail. The first thing we did was is we did an Agricultural Impact Assessment in 1990. W determined that the entire property is a combination of Class 4 and 7, in accordanc with the Canada Land Inventory. Canada Land Inventory is a mapping system which classify all lands in Canada on the basis of its agricultural capability. The soils on the property have a very high sand content and therefore are quite dry. In terms of agricultural uses in the vicinity of this property, lands to the north are cleared and there is a barn located approximately 400 metres to the north of this property. considering the distance between the barn and this property, there will not be any impacts. To the west, are cleared fields, but they do not appear to be in agricultural production at the present time. To the south of the propert is the Scott silo Subdivision. Before the application for development was submitted, that property was also in pine reforestation. To the east of the propert there are a number of small fields with limited capability, primarily because the soil classification is the same as on the subject property. So in summary, given that the property is considered to be Clas 4 lands, it is located far enough from any active barns and is not in what we cons ide to be a very intensive agricultural area. We concluded that the development of this site would not have any impact on the II - 5 - Nick MacDonald: agricultural community of Oro. In Decembe of 1990, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food sent us a letter and copy to the Township, basically agreeing with us and saying that they have no objection at all with this proposal. In addition to the Agricultural Assessment we also completed a Drainage Plan. The Drainage Plan was only preliminary in nature. The intent of the plan was to determine if the property, after development, would cause any drainage problems down stream. We determined in a nut shell that it would not. In terms of hydrogeology; back in 1990 we retained the firm of Terraprobe Consultant Limited to conduct a preliminary hydrogeological assessment of the property In addition to support the Scott Silo Plan of Subdivision, Mr. Scott retained the services of Dixon Hydrogeology to do some work on his property as well. Both of those hydrogeologists conclude that the development in this area will not impact 0 water supplies in the area and development can occur on both of these properties in accordance with the most recent regulation of the Ministry of the Environment. Both hydrogeologists have determined that there are three overburdened aquifers in this area. The upper overburdened aquifer is found at between 295 and 310 metres in elevation. Both Terraprobe and Dixon looked at the well records for 51 wells in the general area. These 51 wells were located within 2 kilometres of this property. Thirteen wells took water from the upper overburdened aquifer. These wells ranged in depth between 31 and 55 metres. Generally these wells are located to the south and west of the property. Th majority of the remaining wells were located in a much lower overburdened aquifer and this aquifer is considered to be a confined aquifer and is between 2 and 5 metres thick. These aquifers are found at 250/285 metre elevations. The majority of wells located in this area are drilled into this lower overburdened aquifer and are between 55 and 80 metres deep. According to pump tests received or analyzed, the average yield were approximately 72 litres per minute. The well on the Houben property is drilled into this aquifer and is located about 40 metres deep. There is also a much deeper overburdened aquifer, located in this area and it is accessed by some wells in the vicinity of the intersection of the 10th line and the County Road 11. In terms of ground water flows underneath the property, this area is the site of an area where sand and gravel have been left II - 6 - Nick MacDonald: after the last ice age. However it has been determined by both hydrogeologists that the shallow ground water flow, flows to the south towards the headwaters of Bluffs Creek and the lower overburden aquifers also flow to the south and to the south-east towards Lake Simcoe. So therefore, generally the whole general are to the north and north-east of this property; all of the ground water flows i a southerly direction. In terms of the using the property and developing the property on the basis of individual wells, the hydrogeologist has determined that infiltration alone is enough to recharge the ground water flowin underneath the property to supply the proposed development. That means there will not be any decrease in the ground water in the area, as a result of this development. The individual wells on the property will be drilled into the lower overburdened aquifer, I just mentioned. Therefore, the wells will be between forty and eighty metres deep. There should be no well interference since groundwater recharge amounts are much more than adequate. I have to say that this is a preliminary report. As part of the planning approval process that we are in ontario, the Ministry of the Environment requires much more detailed testing in the form of actua test wells being drilled on the property and their monitoring. We are planning on doing this, provided we proceed through th planning approval process. Now this is a requirement before anything is approved by the Province, which is where this proposal may go. In terms of servicing, we are proposing to develop the site on the basis of Class 4 septic systems. Since the soils are sandy in nature, there should be no problem in the siting of these systems on the property. Based on the infiltration rates and the nature of the soils, the development of twenty-nine lots on the property will meet the latest M.O.E. guidelines. In all actuality the M.O.E. guidelines would permit a higher number of lots on this property but the Houbens have decided not to do that because they felt that the density would be just too dense for the area. The amount that they could develop on the property would be approximately thirty-seven lots. The next thing I would like to talk about is the proposals conformity with the Official Plan. The Official Plan is the document in the Township with which all development applications have to be measured. It is the document which has been in force in the Township since - 7 - Nick MacDonald: approximately 1972. Now there are a numbe of sections in the Plan which pertain to this development. I will briefly run through three of them and discuss how this application conforms with the intent and the policies of those sections. section 5.4.2 of the Official Plan deals with the information requirements that Council requires before they can make a decision on any application to designate lands for Estate Residential purposes. These information requirements include dealing with the Agricultural land issue, dealing with ground and surface water regimes, dealing with the impact on the development on roads and traffic, includes looking at vegetation and wildlife, includes looking at soil and topography, includes looking at the visual impact of the development on the adjacent areas and any other environmental matters that may b important at the time the application is made. I believe in my opinion that we hav addressed all of those information requirements contained in this document with the preparation of the Agricultural Assessment, the Hydrogeological Study, the Drainage Study and also by the design of this plan which tries to take into account the existing vegetation on the property an the existing topography on the property. When applications for Estate Development are received by Council, Council is to loo at a number of criteria before they can make a decision on the matter. These criteria include, avoiding lands which ar good agricultural lands and we have alread determined that they are not good agricultural lands. The lands have to be removed from any existing or potential livestock operation, we have determined that the nearest operation is 400 metres away from the property, so therefore there will be no impact. The lands should be located in a scenic area with rolling topography and this site certainly complie with that. The site should contain sufficient tree cover to screen dwellings and roads from abutting lands and other roads. considering the end of the propert is heavily forested with pine reforestatio and the intent is to ensure that the majority of those trees remain after the development occurs; this policy will certainly be complied with. The site has to contain suitable building sites, withou significant alterations to contours and vegetation and this site certainly complie with that. The site should have access to municipal road which is of an acceptable standard. It has access to Oro Line 9. The site should be suitable for the installation of Class 4 septic system. This site, primarily because it is completely sandy, in terms of the soil content, will certainly satisfy that - 8 - Nick MacDonald: criteria. Also, the site has to be supported by a Hydrogeologist Report, confirming that a sufficient supply of water is available to service the lots on the property. This has been done as well. The last set of issues that Council has to look at prior to making a decision is the actual design of the subdivision itself. In terms of design the Township requires that access to all lots be from an interna road system, and this is what is planned. No lots will have direct access onto Oro Line 9 or County Road 11, with the exception of the property on which the Houbens presently live. The lots should b well proportioned and a regular shape. As you can see that certainly is the case. The lots should have sufficient table land to prevent the installation of Class 4 septic systems. As the topography is not that severe, there should be no problem satisfying that requirement as well. Ther has to be a minimum setback of 15 metres from the top of bank when there is severe slope on the property. There are no sever slopes on the property where this would apply. Every effort should be made to minimize erosion during construction and after development occurs. We have, I believe, complied with all of the criteria in the Official Plan which is the parent document dealing with development in this Township. Subsequent to the approval of the Official Plan by th Township, the Township has initiated an amendment to the Official Plan which deals specifically with Estate Residential development. This amendment which is know as Official Plan Amendment No. 48, was adopted by Council, I believe early in 199 and was finally approved by the Minister 0 December 24, 1992. The purpose of the amendment was to look at the following three areas: In accordance with the policies of the present Official Plan, a large amount of the northern half of the Township would comply with the criteria in the Official Plan, for the site of Estate development. In other words there was no control on the number of lots which could be traded in th Township that were Estate. So therefore, the Township decided that they would include some measure of control in the Official Plan. This measure of control is considered to be a quota system. No more than ten percent of all the dwelling units in the Township can be considered to be Estate Residential at any given time. At the present time there are approximately 209 Estate dwellings which are currently built and lived in. This translates into approximately 5.2% of the total number of dwelling units in the Township. So therefore, there is an opportunity to site . - 9 - Nick MacDonald: more Estate development in the Township. This development when built and developed will fill not increase the number of Estat lots in the Township, by more than the 10% required. I would like to touch upon the Growth and Settlement Guidelines. All applications for development that have been submitted t the Province since about the fall of 1992 have to conform to the Growth and Settlement Guidelines. The Growth and Settlement Guidelines, basically say that each municipality must do two things to justify development. The first thing is t prepare a population projection, which loo at how many people are going to live in th Township in the next twenty years. The second thing they have to do is attempt to identify areas which are suitable for development or if they don't identify area which are suitable, at least identify the criteria which should be used to determine whether an area is suitable for development. The Township has prepared population projections and these projections indicate that there will be an increase in population over the next twenty years. The second part of looking at this is the determination of which areas are appropriate for growth. In terms of determining whether the Growth and Settlement Guidelines are being complied with in this case, I determined that in terms of land use alone and in terms of this proposal conformity with the Official Plan, that this is a good development. Th Growth and Settlement Guidelines put the onus on the municipality to provide them and at least look at where growth should occur. I believe the Township has done this with the passage of O.P.A. No. 48 and I believe this proposal will comply with the intent of O.P.A. No. 48. I would just like to conclude. The property is ideally suited for Estate Residential Development. The development of the property will not impact on surrounding agricultural uses. The development can be serviced on the basis 0 individual wells and septic systems with n impacts on adjacent uses. The development can be adequately drained. The proposal conforms to the policies of the Official Plan in every respect. The proposal is in keeping with the intent of O.P.A. No. 48. The proposal is in keeping with the Growth and Settlement Guidelines issued by the Province of Ontario. . , . . " . - 10 - Dale Plant: I just wanted to make a few comments about this development and the Scott Development Some issues have been raised and one of them being agricultural; I would defy anybody to try to make a living off either piece of property. I have agricultural land on my property, which is to the west of this and my friend George Tran has assisted me on numerous occasions. We hav one field that is really deserving of more attention than it gets and we have really put an effort into trying to maintain it a agricultural. There was a comment made with a concern of water. There are only two people that would really be related to a water problem, one would be the Houben's themselves and the other would be George Tran. If there was a concern regarding th letter that came in, that individual lives over on the tenth line and he is a considerable distance away. I don't blame him for raising the issue but the point is with the volume of land between the development and his location, he really doesn't have a concern. As far as traffic is concerned, in both cases, they are extremely safe and really don't create a traffic problem. The issue so far as road and maintenance, which you people are always subjected to a lot of abuse which you don't deserve. If we don't have development, we don't have further income. If you don't have further income you canno grow. If you stick your head in the sand, nothing is going to happen. So if you don't let people take the opportunity of doing something like this with land that i complimentary to it, then we are just hanging ourselves and creating a bigger ta burden in the future. There being no further questions or comments, when being called for the third time, the Reeve in closing the meeting, thanked those in attendance for their participation and advised that Council would consider all matters before reaching a decision. He then advised those present that if they wished to be notified of the passing of the proposed By-law, they should leave their name and address with the Clerk. MOTION NO.1 Moved by Caldwell, seconded by Crokam Be it resolved that we do now adjourn from this special Public Meeting of Council (Part of the West Half of Lot 10, Concession 10, Houben) @ 7:37 p.m. Carried ~AD~~NE~~~r '