Council appears to have made some headway in finalizing a new comprehensive zoning bylaw.
Originally expected to be considered on Sept. 14, several sticking points have delayed passage of the bylaw, which regulates the use of land and the buildings upon it.
But on Sept. 20 councillors seemed to give county planners the feedback necessary to help overcome the delays.
Vehicle parking
One of the main obstacles from the outset was restricting certain large commercial vehicles from parking in residential areas.
It appeared council had the issue solved when it agreed to raise from 6,000 to 15,000 pounds the maximum weight for vehicles in those areas, but on Monday councillor Mike Downey said the feedback he’s received is not positive.
“The comment was ‘if you’re going to pass this bylaw [as it is], you’re going to have a convoy here,’ ” Downey said.
He told council many residents in Alma said they moved to the village for its bigger lots and driveways so they could park larger vehicles at home. They feel council is being “very restrictive” even by using the 15,000 pound limit, he added.
“I know exactly what you mean,” Mayor John Green replied, agreeing with Downey that many township residents drive tractor trailers and bring their “tractors” home with them.
However, Green said if the township allows it in less densely populated areas, people will follow suit in places like Drayton and “I’m not sure it would be looked at the same way [there].”
Downey admitted it is a dilemma and said he didn’t “profess to have the answer to it.”
County planner Linda Redmond said there is a provision in the proposed bylaw that allows one commercial vehicle – not longer than 30 feet and not higher than 12 feet – to be parked in the residential zone.
Downey said that would address 95% of the situations of which he is aware. Green said he doesn’t have strong feelings either way, but if the planners could make the regulations correspond to serviced and unserviced areas, council could do the rest.
Hobby barns
Another sticking point in discussions to date has been the size of hobby barns allowed on properties ranging is size from two to five acres.
On the advice of council, Redmond said she changed the maximum size from 300 to 1,000 square feet, and the location of said barns would be determined by already existing minimum distance separation (MDS) guidelines.
Downey had several questions about specific situations and Green, while noting 1,000 square feet may too large, said, “I don’t have a problem with it.”
The mayor said council has to go with the best possible situation because, as planner Mark Van Patter noted, there will always be specific challenges, no matter what council decides.
Residential yards
Councillor Jim Curry said he is concerned about lowering the setbacks for residential lots, specifically the sideyards.
“I’m opposed to going down to 3.9 [feet or 1.2 metres],” Curry said.
He told council for safety and emergency access to backyards he preferred staying with 4.9 feet or 1.5 metres.
“We’ve lived with what we’ve been using for many years,” he added.
Green explained the province is dictating how many houses per acre new developments should have, and he noted on a recent visit to the GTA he saw two homes so close together the owners could probably kiss each other by leaning out their own windows.
“We want to fight that off as long as we can,” Green said, to agreement from Curry.
However, the same government rules mean the township should go with smaller side lots in order to make room for more single detached homes, and less semi-detached models, Green said.
Van Patter agreed, although he said county planners have no real problem leaving sideyards at 4.9 feet if that is the wish of council. But Downey and councillor Dennis Craven said they didn’t mind the smaller sideyards.
“Then I guess it stays [at 3.9 feet],” Green said.
A revised bylaw will be discussed at a future council meeting.
