{"id":85562,"date":"2020-05-22T14:52:20","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T18:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=85562"},"modified":"2026-03-23T16:04:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T20:04:52","slug":"development-rights-for-lands-east-of-forbes-hill-drive-the-result-of-a-1995-settlement-at-the-omb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/development-rights-for-lands-east-of-forbes-hill-drive-the-result-of-a-1995-settlement-at-the-omb\/","title":{"rendered":"Development rights for lands east of Forbes Hill Drive the result of a 1995 settlement at the OMB"},"content":{"rendered":"

Further to a story we brought you in April about the clearcutting of lands just east of Forbes Hill Drive<\/a><\/span> near the Canada Summit Centre, you may have noticed that bat houses have been placed on the property.<\/p>\n

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According to Huntsville director of development services Kirstin Maxwell, “the bat houses were recommended to be installed by the proponents\u2019 biologist through an environmental assessment that had been conducted.”<\/p>\n

While Doppler left a message with Nulife Developments, the developer of ‘The Summit’, as the development is being referred to, our call was not returned.<\/p>\n

The website for the development<\/a><\/span> states, “With unobstructed views in every direction, The Summit is your exclusive Muskoka lakeside getaway,” and lists stacked townhouses from the mid-$300,000 and condo townhomes from the mid-$700,000.<\/p>\n

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Many community members have expressed alarm at the extent of clear-cutting on the property without a site plan approval in place.<\/p><\/div>\n

What we have learned so far, according to an Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) decision from 1995 forwarded to Doppler by the Town\u2019s planning department, is the lands in question with a civic address of 119 and 195 Town Line Road East, comprising almost 17 acres, were the subject of a negotiated agreement before the OMB between the Fairy Lake Association and the previous owner of the lands, Ralna Parent Corporation Limited.<\/p>\n

According to the OMB document<\/a><\/span>, the owner of those lands at the time was seeking development rights to build 230 units on those lands and required an Official Plan and zoning amendment from the Town and subdivision approvals from the District. While a previous council at both the Town and District approved the OP amendment, zoning and plan of subdivision, vehement opposition from area residents and the Fairy Lake Association landed the parties at the OMB.<\/p>\n

The process took several years but through negotiation the parties, Ralna, and Fairy Lake Association representatives, eventually arrived at an agreement endorsed by the OMB but without an actual hearing.<\/p>\n

The agreement:<\/p>\n