With controversy continuing to grow over Official Plan Amendment (OPA) 11, Grey County council has voted to defer the matter until at least its next meeting on Oct. 13.
OPA 11 includes clauses that would create two special policy areas in the Municipality of West Grey just outside the Town of Hanover that would be reserved for future urban growth. At county council’s previous meeting, the West Grey/Hanover issue became a significant debate and an amendment to remove those clauses from OPA 11 was narrowly defeated.
At its meeting on Sept. 22, county council voted to defer passage of a bylaw to implement the amendment in order to receive advice from in-house legal counsel. The county’s lawyer was not available at the Sept. 22 meeting.
Members of county council expressed reservations about moving forward with the bylaw to adopt OPA 11 after planning staff shared a number of comments and concerns raised by the public after the report on OPA 11 was introduced and approved at council’s previous meeting.
Between meetings, county staff also heard a number of concerns from the community about OPA 11’s modifications to On-Farm Diversified Uses (OFDU) policies. OPA 11 would reduce the required lot sizes in lands zoned agriculture and specialty agriculture for commercial or industrial activity to occur.
When the bylaw to adopt OPA 11 reached the council table, West Grey Mayor Christine Robinson moved an amendment to remove the clauses concerning the West Grey/Hanover special policy areas. This led to Robinson and Hanover Mayor Sue Paterson exchanging opposing viewpoints on the matter, with The Blue Mountains Mayor Alar Soever also joining the debate to suggest the two municipalities should work out an agreement before the county gets involved.
However, before Robinson’s amendment could reach a vote other members of county council expressed reservations about the amendment and suggested the issue be deferred. A motion to defer the entire bylaw trumped Robinson’s amendment in terms of procedural priority.
“I wonder if we should defer the entire matter for more consultation,” said Chatsworth Mayor Scott MacKey. “The impact of OFDUs is real. I am hearing concerns from the farming community about those shops that are going up.”
Other members of county council suggested the Hanover/West Grey and OFDU items could be set aside until more information is available and county council could move forward with the rest of OPA 11.
“There are good parts in there, let’s keep the rest going,” said Grey Highlands Mayor Paul McQueen.
Georgian Bluffs Mayor Dwight Burley suggested deferring the entire matter until the new council takes office.
“Our terms are getting awfully close to an end. We need to step back, take a deep breath and defer this to a new council,” he said.
Deputy CAO Randy Scherzer suggested the bylaw be tabled until council’s next meeting on Oct. 13. Scherzer said there were legal implications if council chose to defer OPA 11 entirely or in part and council should have the opportunity to have those discussions before its final decision. Scherzer’s suggestion carried the day with council approving his recommendation in a 71-13 recorded vote.
