Duane Hicks
While only a small number of local residents showed up for a series of two workshops/open houses last Wednesday regarding the updating of the town’s official plan, those who did show up got an update as to what’s happening with the plan—and a chance to provide input as to what they’d like to see considered in the future of Fort Frances.
In accordance with changes to the provincial Planning Act, the Town of Fort Frances is updating its official plan and zoning bylaw, with last week’s open house being the first opportunity for consultants to hear what residents wanted.
“What we’ve been asked to do by the municipality is prepare a plan that’s going to guide and manage future land use for Fort Frances for the next 20 years,” explained planner Greg A. Hynde of Quartek Group Inc., who has helped work on official plans for nearly all the other municipalities in the district over the years.
“We’ve been asked to do a policy document that’s going to talk about a lot of ‘what ifs’—it’s going to have policies in there so say, ‘What if Abitibi will want to reduce their involvement in this town? What can we replace that with?’” he noted.
“We’re going to talk about an awful lot of ‘what ifs,’” he stressed. “What if we get another secondary industry here, or whether we have a new recreation strategy, or whether we have a new influx of people and how to do we accommodate those people.”
The official plan is a policy-driven document that talks about the management of growth for the next 20 years, and policies in regards to where and how residents live, and what happens with the commercial and recreational areas.
Hynde admitted the documents often contain “an awful lot of policies that may never happen.”
“Fifty percent of the policies in the official plan are based on futuristic hope,” he noted.
Going hand in hand with the official plan, they’ll also look at the zoning bylaw. This is the document used by the town to regulate the use of land.
It contains very specific and legally-enforceable regulations which specify permitted uses (such as residential, commercial, etc.) and the required standards (e.g., location and size of building) within a zone.
“Zoning bylaws are really there to protect value in your town, to make sure that value remains,” said Hynde. “Councils use it as their tool to implement the official plan.”
The official plan review process began this past spring after the town put out a call for volunteers to sit on a steering committee.
Comprised of people from the BIA, Chamber of Commerce, Committee of Adjustment, citizens, and other community committees, they were recruited—but not appointed—by council.
This steering committee has worked with the consultants over the past few months to begin identifying issues and options for the community.
Hynde stressed that, at this point in time, there’s been no decisions made regarding land use or the zoning bylaw.
Issues raised
In the past three months, Hynde said some of the issues that have surfaced include:
•unsightly entrances at either end of town;
•truck traffic (nearly 200 trucks a day pass through town);
•contaminated sites and whether they can be redeveloped with the help of “brownfields grants”;
•municipal boundary expansion (landfill, airport, cottage lot development);
•provincial policy conformity;
•heritage preservation;
•the decreasing population;
•the need for more residential land;
•the changing economy and the future of the mill; and
•parks/recreation/waterfront.
Hynde said given the current rate of decline, the population of Fort Frances should decrease from 8,200 to about 6,500 in the next 20 years.
He said this statistic will affect everything in the official plan—and that must be taken into consideration.
“We have to take a look at what we call stabilizing policies for your population decrease,” Hynde explained. “We have to come up with a new focus that stops this decline.”
Factors affecting this include an aging population, youth outmigration, and mill layoffs which force younger workers to leave town to look for new jobs.
On the other hand, while this population decline hopefully will be interrupted by certain events, said Hynde, there does not appear to be a need for more residential land in Fort Frances.
He added the local economy also is starting to shift from a primary industry-based one to a government employment/retail-based economy.
“We don’t know what the future holds for them [Abitibi]. We are going to be meeting with them to try to get a read on how that will impact your municipality,” said Hynde. “But certainly your economy is shifting, certainly it has to shift, and certainly we have to bring policies forward that identify where you may go.”
Referring to the waterfront and recreation, Hynde said the La Verendrye Parkway is “a parkway unparalleled in municipalities this size,” and serves several purposes.
But he added it would be enhanced if something could be done with the Shevlin wood yard, which has been zoned “open space/tourist/commercial” land since 1997.
“Everybody knows it’s out of place, everybody knows it causes a problem, everybody knows it generates the truck traffic,” said Hynde, adding that as outsiders, the consultants see that site as “being the key to tourism, the key to waterfront regeneration, the key to cleaning up that neighbourhood . . . the key to getting you more dollars for environmental clean-up.”
He said they will be talking to Abitibi about moving the wood yard or consolidating it with property at the mill.
Hynde said the reuse plan for the property could be “sensational,” citing the wood yard could be re-developed to have a water park, hotels, or residences.
Public input
In response to a question as to whether a new truck route—which has been talked about for decades—will be ever be developed here, Hynde said the truck route will be a priority in the new official plan.
But he stressed the official plan can’t make it happen per se. Instead, it can make it a possibility by defining who needs to be involved to make it happen.
Retention of parks and open space was of primary concern to a number of citizens at both the afternoon and evening sessions last Wednesday. Some felt the official plan process might result in the removal of some of the local parkland and replace it with residential areas.
Hynde explained his firm would be making recommendations to council based on the research conducted, including the public consultation, and that they would not be recommending the removal of any of the parks.
He also noted the town currently has 39 acres of passive and active parks, not counting the La Verendrye Parkway. Given the declining population, there’s no need for council to set a priority to acquire more green space.
But he did say one idea being looked at is an outdoor meeting place—a green space in the commercial area where people could sit down and talk.
Another topic was outdoor recreation opportunities. Times publisher Jim Cumming, who sits on the town’s active transportation committee, said they’ve met with the consultants about creating a trail network connecting park space in the east, west, north, and south ends of town.
Concepts for bike trails and safe walking routes have been in the 1978 and 1998 official plans, but the political will hasn’t been there to do it, Cumming added.
While he’s quite confident “stronger policies” will come forward in the new official plan, he noted “it remains the council who has to back it. That’s the big problem.”
One woman at the afternoon open house asked that the town better enforce its bylaws (such as making sure people’s lawns weren’t overgrown).
Another resident, Mervyn Ahrens, had a list of 21 suggestions for consideration. Some of these included:
•assurances which help present and future entrepreneurs to readily perceive Fort Frances’ leadership to be approachable, supportive, and a community partner;
•plans for “growing” the town’s two corporations (Town of Fort Frances and Fort Frances Power Corp.);
•addressing the need for crosswalks close to parks, swimming areas, businesses, etc.;
•assurances the town recognizes a major role in creating and maintaining a safe, healthy, and prosperous community for all of its citizens;
•instituting property and commercial tax incentives to encourage new businesses;
•beautification of streets, parks, cemeteries, parkway, etc.;
•removal of derelict buildings;
•community gardens;
•maintenance of the airport, waste system (landfill, recycling, and garbage), water and sewer system, streets, and sidewalks;
•an emphasis on “greening up the city” with solar power, wind power, etc.; and
•recognition of hazard land and flood plain classifications.
Ahrens also said he felt the new official plan should be a “top drawer, dynamic document consulted regularly by mayor and council, executive officers, and managers of all departments,” as well as be “the city’s guide into the future” and “should be proactive and illuminating.”
“It should address the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the city’s every-day operations, and it should also assist with long-term planning issues and provide guidance to those who must contemplate futuristic scenarios challenging the city,” he added.
What’s next
Hynde said the open houses last Wednesday were the first meeting with the public, but there will be more in the future.
The next step is for the consultants to take input garnered from the public, review it, and incorporate it into a background paper, which also will include all issues identified and recommendations.
Then they’ll put together a draft official plan, which will come back to the public, and explain the recommendations to everyone and the input the public has had in arriving at those policies.
At that time, they’ll get more public input in the form of their reaction to the draft plan.
They’ll then take everything back to the steering committee to get direction, as well as meet with council to discuss it.
At least 12 different provincial agencies also will take a look at the official plan revisions.
After getting input from all these parties, the document then will be sent to the province for review, which usually is for a 180-day period.
It then will be brought back to the public twice more—once for another open house, and then at the public requisite meeting prior to council voting to accept the final version of the plan.
Hynde estimated the draft version of the official plan should be ready by the end of the year, with a final version possibly ready by next spring or summer.
