February 27th is the date given for objections to a Committee of Adjustment decision allowing a land severance of 20 acres of Galilee Centre property in Arnprior to be received.
The matter was addressed at a Public Meeting of the Committee at the Nick Smith Centre in Arnprior February 5th.
Despite the frustrations of difficult audio, Town of Arnprior Planner Alix Jolicoeur did her best to outline the grounds for, and possible constraints on, the proposed land severance at 398 John Street North; i.e. the 20 acre parcel of land that the Galilee Centre is seeking to convey to developer Cavanagh Communities.
Jolicouer opened by citing several sections of the 2024 Provincial Policy Statement governing proposed development on, or adjacent to, environmentally sensitive lands.
The Planner also indicated the portions of The Town of Arnprior’s Official Plan that might impact the proposed single-lot land severance.
She observed part of the proposed severed lot falls within an Environmentally Protected area as noted in the Arnprior Official Plan, and further, Arnprior’s Official Plan also designates patches of the severance as being “significant woodland”.
After spending more than fifteen minutes outlining why the proposed severed area might be protected, Jolicouer then came the conclusion it didn’t have to be.
Jolicoeur suggested the Zoning Bylaw Amendment Stage of the process may be more appropriate for an intervention.
According to the Planner, further Consent Applications, a Subdivision Application or Site Plan Control Approval may well be further steps involved.
Now the crux- who can appeal if they don’t like what the Committee of Adjustment decides?
The fine print on the Committee of Adjustment decision, issued February 7th, indicates that organized groups cannot appeal, save as individual persons.
While the meeting audio remains difficult, it is nowhere discernable that there was mention of the 2022 “More Homes Built Faster Act” as having any bearing on the appeal process- although that legislation has impacted an Ottawa group that was in the process of objecting to redevelopment at Lansdowne Park.
Our research indicates the whole process of appeal as outlined in the relevant Committee of Adjustment Severance Grant Notice of February 7th may be a moot point, as none of the parties listed as registered and in attendance at the February 5th Committee of Adjustment session meet current intervenor criteria.
“The More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 does indeed make significant changes to the appeal process for land severance decisions. Specifically, it restricts the rights to appeal for minor variances and consents to applicants, municipalities, certain public bodies, and a small list of “specified persons” (e.g., utilities and railways). This means that individual community members no longer have the same ability to appeal these decisions as they did before.”
By Rick Stow