Grey Highlands council heard no objections to a church proposed for East Back Line.
On June 24, council held a public planning meeting on a proposal to create a new church and cemetery to serve the horse and buggy community in the municipality. The proposed church is located on an East Back Line property.
For the project to proceed, a severance was required to add 1.25 hectares of land from the northern lot to the 2.6-hectare southern lot to create a new lot 3.85 hectares in size. The land addition enabled the proposed church to be located far enough away from a nearby hog barn.
The rezoning recognizes the severance, which was granted recently, and also changed the designation on the property from rural residential to institutional. Permitted uses will be a church, cemetery, parking and agricultural crop farming on the rest of the property not being used for the church and cemetery.
The proposal drew no objections from the public or any of the official agencies that commented to the municipality.
Coun. Tom Allwood asked about the approval process to establish a cemetery on the property.
Grey Highlands planner Abdullah Pasha explained that the rezoning would approve a cemetery as a use on the property, but would not actually formally establish the cemetery, which is a separate approvals process through the clerk’s department.
“We’re just approving the use. Not all that goes along with the use,” said Coun. Paul Allen, who chaired the meeting.
Council did not make a decision on the application at the meeting. A staff report and recommendation will come to council for consideration in the near future.
