Huntsville’s Planning Committee was given a summary of the files before the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) at its January 16 meeting.
Staff is tracking six appeals currently before the Board, according to Kirstin Maxwell, Manager of Planning Services at Town Hall.
One was a single family residential lot creation on Deerhurst Drive. It was appealed in 2015 and a hearing has finally been scheduled for this March.
Another application involves a right-of-way on Skeleton Lake. The Board has granted the right-of-way and committee’s decision was upheld.
A hearing regarding the expansion of Muskoka Landing and the applicant’s height exemption request was held in November, but the Board has still not ruled on that file – despite typically aiming to have a ruling in place 30 days after a hearing.
An appeal filed with the Board by a neighbouring resident regarding setbacks proposed as part of the redevelopment of Grandview lands is no longer up for appeal as the developers have withdrawn their request for the exemptions, according to Maxwell.
Another height exemption request by the developers of Lakeside Place on Highway 60, which was denied by committee, does not have a hearing date at this point. “We’re waiting to find out when a hearing will be scheduled,” said Maxwell.
And, finally, a decision by the Committee of Adjustment to deny a minor variance for the location of a dock and boathouse on South Portage Road is being appealed by the applicant. “And so that will be moving forward at some point,” Maxwell told committee.
You can find a link here to all of the appeals before the Board and their status.
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Perhaps it is time to put members of the community on the planning committee that are not developers, planners or real estate agents and are unelected.
I have been following the news about the height exemption issues for the Muskoka Landing expansion and the comments against the proposal from occasional visitors and lakehouse owners. I would like to comment on behalf of my father, a resident of Muskoka Landing.
My father suffered a major stroke a year ago. Due to proactive planning, he was high on the wait list and we were able to get him a bed after a few nail biting months. Long-term beds are difficult to obtain in a timely way close to home. Now my father lives with good quality of life in his town, on the lake he loves and has lived on for many years. We spend many hours on the decks and patios at the Landing enjoying the beautiful views over Fairy lake. My father enjoys the views every day.
Our elderly residents in need of assisted living deserve the opportunity to live in such a warm, loving and dignified environment. They have contributed so much to our community. They are the strong and silent generation so their view point is often overlooked. Every effort should be made to increase long term beds in our community. Why shouldn’t it be on the shores of Fairy lake? Their ‘view’ counts!
I’m a sometime visitor to the Muskokas and have commented previously on the insulting Muskoka Landing application. I read now that there are, in Huntsville, just under 30 appeals to the OMB that are either open or recently closed. 30! The mind boggles. What is the point of having a Planning Committee spending time reviewing applications when any Tom, Dick or Harriet (or absentee corporate giant in the case of Muskoka Landing) can plead their case to the OMB when their attempt to overturn the Official Community Plan is denied? Which idiot in which incarnation of the provincial government decided it was a good idea to cut locally elected officials and locally appointed planning bodies off at the knees? Ridiculous. As I said, the mind boggles.
The OMB is deliberating height exemptions: The Town’s consultant will be determining appropriate development heights for the revised OP. It is difficult to see how the former will not affect the latter; inappropriately, I feel. Things just keep getting curioser and curiouser.