Elisabeth Heslop
Alberton council has opted to put off making a decision on the application for a zoning bylaw amendment made by township resident Gayle Arpin until next month.
Last Wednesday’s meeting was the earliest at which council could have made a decision on the controversial issue, which drew roughly 170 residents to a public meeting back on June 24.
“I think to make a decision now, while emotions are high and facts are low, would be an injustice to the township,” said Coun. Mike Ford.
Coun. Barb Cournoyer suggested they revisit the zoning bylaw, the township’s official plan, and the provincial Planning Act to ensure the decision they make is based solely on facts, not emotion.
As such, a special meeting has been set for July 29 at 7 p.m. so Alberton council can discuss the documents and seek clarification on any issues it’s unclear about.
Council also said it would make a final decision at its regular meeting scheduled for Aug. 12.
Also at last Wednesday’s meeting, Alberton council expressed concerned about the possibility that Weechi-it-te-win Family Services, the potential buyers of the Arpin property to re-locate its Training and Learning Centre (TLC) currently located in Watten Township should the re-zoning be approved, might purchase land that’s zoned “Rural Residential.”
Group homes are permitted, according to the zoning bylaw, on such land and council would have no say in the matter.
“That was a very clear threat [by Weechi-it-te-win] at the public meeting [on June 24],” said Alberton CAO Dawn Hayes.
But Clint Calder, Weechi-it-te-win’s legal counsel, said his statement at the public meeting that anyone could open a group home on “Rural Residential”-designated land was not intended as a threat at all.
“The point was just to tell the public that anyone could start a group home who buys a ‘Rural Residential’ property at any point,” he explained. “It wasn’t a threat to say that Weechi-it-te-win can turn around and buy a house and turn it into a group home without consent.
“People may have taken it that way but it wasn’t really the intention,” Calder stressed.
“The intention was just to try and get the public to understand that the only reason we were there was because we felt it more appropriate to have the ‘Institutional’ designation for this facility.
“Clearly some people took it as a threat.”
Calder added Weechi-it-te-win is not seriously considering purchasing “Rural Residential” land at this time, but did acknowledge it might become a consideration down the road.
Alberton councillors noted the strong response at the public meeting indicated “a clear mandate from the constituents [that were present]” that a significant portion of Alberton residents do not want a group home of any kind in their township.
Council decided it needed time to investigate the issue of whether or not “the group home use can be legally eliminated from the zoning bylaw” and “whether the most appropriate means of resolving issues with the group home use is to eliminate it as a permitted use or to modify and/or impose conditions related to the use,” as well as several other “planning and legal issues” related to the same.
In order to allow time for that study, council last Wednesday passed a resolution and an interim control bylaw, in accordance with Section 38 of the Planning Act, to prevent the “establishment or operation of a group home” on any land designated as “Rural Residential” within the Township of Alberton for the time of one year from the date the bylaw was passed (July 8).
According to the Planning Act, once council has “by bylaw or resolution, directed that a review or study be undertaken in respect of land use planning policies in the municipality or in any defined area or areas thereof,” it can pass an interim control bylaw.
Section 38, subsection (3) states that “no notice or hearing is required prior to the passing of a [interim control] bylaw,” but notice must be given of its passing within 30 days by the clerk of the municipality.
Anyone notified by the clerk of the passing of the bylaw then can make an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board within 60 days of the date the bylaw was passed by filing a notice of appeal—containing their objections to the bylaw and the reasons for those objections—with the municipal clerk.
Interim control bylaws are not put in place lightly. Even though they can be extended by council for not more than a total of two years from the time the bylaw was passed, once the bylaw ceases to be in effect, “the council of the municipality may not, for a period of three years, pass a further interim control bylaw that applies to any lands to which the original interim control bylaw applied.”
“It is a drastic move but I feel it’s a necessary evil right now,” said Coun. Ford.
Any questions regarding the interim control bylaw can be directed to Hayes at 274-6053.
