A relatively routine public meeting for a zoning bylaw amendment has resulted in Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj promising to find out what happened to severance objections sent to Wellington County.
The amendment was for a zone change at Lots 19 and 20 at McNab Street in Elora. The amendment would change the zoning from residential to residential exception. That would, in effect, allow property owner Michael Lackowicz to build a home on a lot that is only 50 feet wide instead of the normal 66 on that street.
Township planner Brett Salmon explained the county’s land division committee had given Lackowicz permission for a severance, but decided he would need a zone change in order to complete the paperwork.
That is where the difficulty began, because several neighbours told council at the public meeting they had faxed objections to the proposal last summer to the land division committee, and they not only received no acknowledgment of their objections, they also were not told when the land division committee was going to meet and make a decision.
Only one person found out and attended to object, council heard.
Salmon said the proposal complies with the zoning in every other way except for the 50-foot lot, and the owner can meet all the other requirements for services, grading and drainage. Salmon noted the county’s tree planting department is satisfied with Lackowicz’s tree replacement program and that many trees at the rear of the property will be protected. One large maple near the front of the property would be removed.
Salmon emphasized the severance has already been decided and now the township is receiving “a number of letters opposing the zone change.”
Councillor Fred Morris noted there are a number of double lot properties on McNab Street, and wondered how many might qualify for similar severances.
Salmon said three of four might qualify, but it would take a detailed survey to determine that. For some, it would depend on the placement of the house on the lot
Salmon said, “A 50-foot lot by today’s standards is a pretty substantial lot.”
Lackowicz is a landscape architect, and said he wants to build a smaller home than the one he currently has to the east.
He said Superintendent of Public Works Les Davidson had agreed a large maple at the front of the property is not safe and should come down. “I’d rather put the money into new trees,” Lackowicz said.
He added he could have torn down the current house on the half acre property instead of having two quarter-acre lots.
Mark Walker moved from a “narrow lot subdivision” in Fergus to McNab a year ago, and objects to the zone change. He said the house will be unique on McNab.
He objected because the rear of the proposed house would be well behind other homes, and thus invade neighbours’ privacy.
Wendy Kosterman, who also lives on McNab, presented council with a petition signed by 30 residents from the street.
She complained she was not notified of the severance application at the land division committee, and said she faxed objections from the post office, and has a receipt to that effect.
“There were quite a few faxes lost,” she said.
Kosterman objected to the removal of the maple tree, and said smaller trees are no replacement for a large old one.
As for the house plans, she said, “It just changes the whole street.”
Lorraine Bride, also of McNab Street, said the plan will affect her the most because the rear of he new home would not only block her view but also invade her privacy.
She added she had faxed Wellington County and asked for notification of the land division committee hearing date. She, too, sent the fax from the post office, and said she could produce the receipt.
“Four of us wanted to be notified,” she said of herself and her neighbours. “We faxed to the number we were given. Somehow, mysteriously, they didn’t receive our faxes. We would have been at the meeting to oppose it.”
Bride also noted that residents “all faxed at different times.”
She also pointed out the previous two owners of the property had tried for severances and had been denied, and now this one was approved.
“They have to squish this house in. It will impact me more than anyone,” Bride said.
Lackowicz said it was “News to me” that previous owners had been denied severance. He said the person he bought the property from had told him he intended to sever the land but never got around to it.
Salmon explained that with the new provincial Places to Grow legislation, up to 40% of new growth has to come from infilling – and while this would never have qualified years ago, now it does.
He also noted that there are 55 foot lots on Beatty Line and 45-foot lots on subdivisions in Fergus, and on St. George Street there lots are wider and shallower.
He added that Centre Wellington now faces the same densities as Markham and Mississauga.
He said if objectors wanted notice of the land division committee meeting, they would have had to ask for notice.
One resident said, “We did.”
Kosterman said that severance is “a big concern.”
Ross-Zuj, who is warden of Wellington County, said she can check to find out what happened to those faxes because, “It’s not the way things happen at the county.”
