There remains a long road ahead for any possible development of the Talisman property near Kimberley.
CollingwoodToday recently sat down with Grey County Director of Planning Scott Taylor and Communications Manager Rob Hatten for an update about the process ahead for the potential development of the Talisman lands.
The property owner, Beaver Valley Development Group (BVDG), has made a subdivision application to the county, which has triggered a development review process and has set off intense public interest in the proposal for the Beaver Valley property.
Questions about the former Talisman resort lands dominated a recent Grey Highlands town hall meeting in Markdale as council debated whether or not to invite the developers to a future meeting for a presentation.
The fact that the property was long ago designated for development and has the zoning and official plan designations already in place, makes the current process somewhat out of the ordinary.
“In this case, Beaver Valley Development Group hasn’t applied for a zoning amendment. They have applied for a plan of subdivision. What they have asked for is approval of this block plan,” Taylor explained. “The lands are designated for development. That might be a challenge for some members of the public. The lands were acquired with the existing official plan and zoning designations in place.”
The property owners are seeking county approval for a subdivision proposal that features a number of defined blocks on the property. Some blocks would be set aside for various forms of development, while others would remain green space. Taylor said the subdivision plan sets “broad parameters” for the property that outline development areas, stormwater areas and non-development areas.
“This is a concept of what it could look like,” he said.
Grey County council is the approval authority on the subdivision applications and the Municipality of Grey Highlands is a commenting agency.
“(Grey Highlands) is not issuing a formal decision. They can issue a position (on the application) if they wish,” said Taylor.
Taylor said no county decision would be made without input from the local municipality.
“County council is not going to make a decision without hearing what Grey Highlands thinks,” said Taylor.
The county has created an extensive Talisman project page on its website that includes an FAQ section to answer common questions from the public about the proposal. The webpage includes the various reports on the proposal that have been submitted to the county.
Taylor and Hatten encouraged local residents to follow the page and said anybody interested in receiving regular updates about the Talisman proposal should reach out to the county planning department to be added to the project’s email circulation list.
“Anybody who would like to be notified of any decisions can write in and ask us,” said Hatten.
On June 12, the county and Grey Highlands are hosting a joint virtual public meeting about the proposal. The planned public meeting has created some confusion in the community. Statutory public meetings are required for zoning and official plan amendments. A public meeting is not mandatory for a subdivision application.
However, Grey County has its own policy that requires a public meeting on a subdivision application to give local residents an opportunity to comment and make their concerns known.
It is also a county policy to delegate the host duties for such meetings to the local municipality – in this case, Grey Highlands.
“Strictly speaking, it’s not required. But county council has said: this is something we’d still like to see,” said Taylor. “It’s county policy to have a public meeting on subdivision applications.”
Taylor did not want to comment about timelines on the Talisman proposal as it is still very early in the process. He said it was unlikely county staff would have a recommendation on the application before the fall.
Taylor also noted that the subdivision application is the first step in the process for development at the Talisman property. He said should the application be approved by county council, down the road the developer may need to make more applications as it begins plans to develop the individual blocks that the subdivision plan would create.
“If they were to get approval on the block plan at some point there could be further applications for development,” said Taylor. “Some would have public processes associated with them and some would not.”
Taylor said should the subdivision application be approved the proponent will have a variety of options for how to proceed.
It’s possible future zoning or official plan amendments would be required, which would trigger public processes at the local municipal level.
The developer could also go down the site plan approval path, which is approved by local municipal planning staff.
He also said they could possibly pursue condominium approvals, which is a county process.
It’s possible further development approvals may be required by the Niagara Escarpment Commission.
“There is not a standard path forward,” he said.
For more information about the Talisman land planning application and the upcoming meeting, visit the Grey County website here.
