Peggy Revell
With no appeal underway after Alberton council’s denial of a zoning bylaw amendment, Weech-it-te-win Family Services Inc. is looking into other possibilities for the relocation of its Training and Learning Centre (TLC).
“The decision was made not to appeal the decision of Alberton primarily because of the cost and time associated with pursuing that,” said Clint Calder, legal counsel for Weechi-it-te-win.
“I think the parties felt that appeal would likely be successful, but it would just take too long and be too expensive,” he noted.
But Calder cautioned this decision doesn’t mean Weechi-it-te-win necessarily is giving up on the TLC facility eventually being relocated to the contested property in Crozier, just that the agency isn’t “pursuing it as urgently as they were initially.”
“I wouldn’t say things have entirely stopped,” Calder noted. “I would just say that people are just kind of regrouping and trying to figure out what’s going to be done.”
The issue first surfaced earlier this year when Alberton resident Gayle Arpin requested a zoning bylaw amendment that would have seen a portion of her land located along Highway 11/71 re-zoned from “business park” to “institutional.”
If the bylaw amendment had gone through, there were plans for Weechi-it-te-win to purchase the property and use it to relocate its TLC, which currently sits in Watten Township.
While some Alberton residents supported the re-zoning, others were adamantly against it for reasons ranging from safety issues to financial ones to the effect the TLC might have on the “rural character” of the township.
Alberton council eventually voted down the re-zoning request in August, based on concerns the proposed use of the land did not sufficiently conform to the township’s official plan and the intentions behind the “business park” zoning currently in place there.
No appeals over the decision were forwarded to the Ontario Municipal Board within the required timeframe.
“The fact that things aren’t being pursued as urgently at the Arpin property doesn’t mean that Weechi-it-te-win isn’t actively searching for other possibilities or pursuing the Arpin property,” Calder remarked.
“The mandate is still there to relocate as soon as possible, and they’re continuing to do that whether it’s the Arpin property or somewhere else.”
While Weechi-it-te-win has renewed the lease for its facilities in Watten for another three years, the lease isn’t an issue should a new location for the TLC be secured, Calder said.
“The thing about the lease is that it can be renegotiated,” he explained. “We’re not locked in for three years, so if something does come up—they can get out of that lease early.
“They’re not locked in,” he stressed.
One possible option still available when it comes to the Arpin property is to request an amendment to the definition of “business park” to include the residential component, Calder explained.
“[Weechi-it-te-win] could have done everything they wanted to do except have residents living on the property,” Calder said, referring to the current zoning of the property.
“So if [Alberton] just amended the definition of ‘business park,’ then it would have still been business park, but with this slight change to allow for the residents.
“So that was one possibility, of going with a new application on that basis.”
But Calder also called that option a “bit of a shot in the dark,” adding it would be nice to go into the process knowing it was a real possibility.
“I don’t think that we’d know until the decision was made, so again it’s another three months and who knows where we’d be at that stage? Looking at another appeal or maybe a successful application, those kind of things,” he said.
“In the meantime, I think Weechi-it-te-win is continuing to keep an eye open for any other properties that might fill the need for the Training and Learning Centre,” Calder added.
“They haven’t given up on the bigger picture of relocation of the TLC, but I think it’s fair to say that in terms of the Arpin property, they’re not pursuing it as diligently as they originally were.
“It still may happen, I suppose, if things can be worked out,” he said.
