Consolidated Zoning By-law at OMB

By Miriam King Bradford Times September 9 2010
It’s been nearly 20 years since the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury was created by the amalgamation of West Gwillimbury, Bradford, and a slice of Tecumseth Twp. – and nearly 2 years since the Town began the process of consolidating the Zoning By-laws inherited from those three municipalities.
Council adopted a new Consolidated Zoning By-law on June 8, 2010. During the appeal period that followed, a total of 6 appellants appealed the document to the Ontario Municipal Board.
Considering the thousands of properties within the municipality, that’s a remarkable record, Mayor Doug White suggested. “There’s a parallel here with the Marsh (Drainage) project,” Mayor White said. The more information is provided to the public, the more education, and the more transparency, “the less appeals we’re likely to get.” He added, “Hopefully, we can negotiate some of these away.”
Appellants include:
. Charter Construction re land zoned Service Construction, at 300 Barrie St. The C2 zone does not permit a gas bar – a use that Charter is requesting.
. Bearsfield Developments Inc./Triple-R Ranch Co. – appealing the minimum and maximum driveway widths in Community Area 2.
. James Corneau is objecting to the zoning of unserviced agricultural lands on Line 9, outside of the urban boundary – including the zoning of a waterway as “Environmental Protection.”
. MHBC – Home Depot, 470 Holland St. W., wants “Building Supply Store” added to the list of permitted uses for the property, to facilitate future expansion.
. Michael Feather and John Gairns, residents of Private Drive, object to the zoning of their land as Natural Heritage System One, although the zoning was established to comply with Provincial Policy, and the Official Plans of the County of Simcoe and Town of BWG. They assert that the zoning would sterilize the use of their lands.
. Karl and Waltraut Jedan, on SR 5, have appealed the Environmental Protection Zone placed on their property, arguing that their lands are not wetlands – although the lands are shown as Provincially Significant Wetlands in the Town and County Official Plans.
There is no date for an OMB hearing at this point.