Zorra Township Council briefs: Residents object to proposed Harrington gravel pit

Connor Luczka, Echo Correspondent

The Township of Zorra has put in a placeholder objection to a proposed gravel pit in the village of Harrington, an objection that resident Harry Jongerden said was satisfactory.

At the Nov. 6 meeting, Jongerden represented the citizen’s group Protect Harrington and presented a petition and objections some residents have put together on the proposal.

They asked council to join them in objecting to the pit, although as noted in his presentation, a letter of objection was required before the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) concludes its official consultation period on Nov. 8, only two days after the council meeting.

Mayor Marcus Ryan informed the delegation that a placeholder objection had already been filed due to the short turnaround.

“The township will not be able to provide fulsome comments in advance of the Nov. 8, 2024, deadline,” Ryan read from a letter sent by township staff to the MNRF ahead of its deadline. “As such, we are requesting that a placeholder objection be indicated for this file. The township is anticipating having received peer review comments within the next month. Once those are received, we can provide those to you if able.”

“I’m only speaking for myself here,” Jongerden said in response. “But I would say we would be satisfied with that … We've already got two peer reviews. That's costly. It's occupying a lot of time, and fortunately, so many of us are retired, but you can imagine, this has us very upset.”

Ryan said that should the project proceed, it will have to come before council for a zone change, likely in 2025, and there will be further review of the application. He assured that the process is not finished, and the project is certainly not “a done deal.”

“The whole reason this council sits here is because nothing is a done deal, right?” Ryan said. “This council sits here to consider applications that come in front of it and input from the public, and consider how best to proceed with that … So, I would say to any residents about any issue, the whole reason that the five of us sit here with these staff around us is to be advised and try to find the best path forward.”

In his presentation, Jongerden included a petition with over 60 names attached from Protect Harrington. It noted a number of objections, though Jongerden said in their opinion the three most egregious are that the location of the entrance is proposed to be on Road 96 at the bottom of a hill (which the group calls “hazardous”), no quantity of gravel is given by the applicant for above water table extraction even though that is what the application is proposing, and that the applicant has indicated that no cultural heritage studies exist, even though there were two completed within the last few years.

According to the Environmental Registry of Ontario, 1000394952 Ontario Inc. has applied for a license to operate a pit above the water table in the township. The proposed location is 316829 31st Line.

Initial zoning bylaw amendments a “great direction” to start lengthy review process

Council has started the process to amend its zoning bylaw to conform to Oxford County’s newly amended Official Plan (OP), starting with a presentation highlighting the changes staff have initially identified – all of which related to the township’s agricultural policies.

“I think this is a great direction for us to take at this time,” Coun. Katie Grigg said after Emily Sousa and April Nix, policy planners at the county, presented the review. “This is our process of setting the rules … I've been sitting here for six years. I may not be a farmer, but we've had lots of discussions around preservation of ag lands. We have great intentions with how we're going to implement that, but it really has to come through our county planning services as they have the best information on what those tools could look like for us to achieve what we intend to do here in Zorra.”

Per Sousa and Nix’s presentation, there are a number of zone revisions or creations being contemplated for the amendment.

Revisions for undersized agricultural (A1), undersized agricultural – no development permitted (A1-ND), and agricultural (A2) zones are being proposed, reassessing them to align with minimum lot sizes. A1 zones are less than 16 hectares while A2 zones are larger than 16 hectares.

A1 zones will be assessed to determine which ones contain existing development, Sousa said. Ones that are vacant will be designated A1-ND. According to Sousa, the suffix essentially acts as a trigger to determine which lots should go through a zone change.

Revisions for the rural residential (RR) zone are being proposed, reassessing and rezoning based on location, whether they are inside or outside of a settlement area.

Finally, there are revisions to existing agri-business zones (AB) being proposed, as many provisions previously included are no longer permitted in the OP. For starters, it will be limited to existing properties only, with the overall goal being to get existing AB sites into greater conformity with the OP.

“Existing AB sites present potential for locating new agriculture-related uses without the need to consume further agricultural land,” Sousa noted.

Additionally, several new zones are being proposed.

For agricultural zones, there are three new zones to be introduced: agricultural – no new dwelling permitted (A3), on-fram diversified use (OFD), and agriculture-related use (AR).

For residential zones, there are two to be introduced: rural cluster (RC) and rural entrepreneurial use (REU).

The A3 zone is meant to address new capabilities allowed in the OP. Surplus farm dwellings are now allowed to be severed from a farm lot with two or more homes built before 1995, where they do not abut. If severed, the A3 zone will make it easier for area municipalities to implement and track the lots and would prohibit new dwellings. Severed lots with the surplus dwelling would be rezoned as RR.

The OFD zone would be permitted only on A2 lots while the AR zone would be permitted on AB, A1, or A2 lots. Staff will work in the coming months to draft potential provisions, Sousa said.

REUs are new to the OP. They consist of home industries and oversized home occupations and will require site-specific zoning.

In addition to the revisions and additions, the amendment will also seek to clarify, update terminology, and develop regulations throughout the bylaw.

The report provided to council also indicates that it will seek to establish clear parameters around renewable energy, something which caught Coun. Paul Mitchell’s eye.

Nix, after Mitchell inquired about the zoning of wind turbines (an issue recently addressed by council), clarified that the intent of the amendment is to make sure that energy storage facilities are not inadvertently permitted through zoning.

The county adopted its OP amendment in 2022, which was subsequently approved by the province in early 2024. The most recent decision at the township level was to formally update its policies to be in line with the county.

The Nov. 6 presentation marked the first step in amending the bylaw. It was a basis for obtaining initial feedback and will, along with public and agency consultation, inform a draft zoning bylaw amendment, which is being eyed to be formally adopted in the second quarter of 2025.

The township must amend the bylaw to confirm with the OP within three years.

In addition to initiating the amendments presented, council also voted to direct staff to prepare a report on additional land-use tools for protecting prime agricultural land.

Coun. Kevin Stewart, who put forward the motion, said that council has recently heard about the importance of protecting prime agricultural land for residents.

“I'm really encouraged about the potential for allowing more on-farm diversified uses, ag-related businesses and some of the in the rural clusters as well, allowing for more expansion of business,” Stewart said. “I think that's something that Zorra definitely needs.”

“As the only farmer on council and someone whose wife operates a farm-based business,” Mitchell added. “I’m in favour of not only the protection of prime farmland but also the opportunities for farm-based business.”

New faces join council around its horseshoe

Ahead of the Nov. 6 meeting, Ryan acknowledged that there were a few new folks joining council that day.

Kim Grogan, the new director of finance for the township, has been with the municipality for a while, Ryan said, but it was her first meeting sitting at the council table.

Grogan took over from Diane Larder, who changed seats and is now the township’s CAO. Larder took over from longtime boss Don MacLeod, who’s last meeting was in October.

“Very happy to have you here sitting beside me at the council meeting,” Ryan said. “I just wanted to acknowledge those two changes for council, for the community, and for people who are here that those things have happened because they're, I think, important milestones for us moving forward.”