The Blue Mountains committee of adjustment has deferred a controversial severance application in Thornbury that sparked significant public opposition.
At its meeting on Aug. 21, the town’s committee of adjustment voted 3-2 in favour of deferring, for 90 days, an application to create a new lot on the unopened portion of Alice Street.
Committee members Duncan McKinlay, Michael Martin and Jan Pratt voted in favour of deferral, with Bob Waind and Jim Oliver opposed.
If approved, the application would have created a small residential building lot fronting on a portion of Alice Street East that is not open. The file was an re-application for a severance that had been granted conditional approval by the committee in 2022. However, the proponent was not able to meet all the conditions before the decision lapsed.
Town planning staff recommended the approval of the application, subject to 10 conditions being met by the property owner - including an agreement to use Alice Street. The full list of conditions can be found in the staff report here.
The severance proposal generated significant public opposition from area residents and neighbouring property owners and the council chambers were packed for the committee meeting.
The portion of Alice Street that would have to be opened up for the proposed lot to have road access and servicing is currently the location of a short linkage to the Beaver River Trail that is used by those living in the neighbourhood.
Multiple local residents spoke to the committee and expressed concerns with the proposal.
The committee also received a number of letters opposing the application and a petition against the severance has been signed by more than 600 people.
Speakers and letter writers raised concerns about the potential loss of the trail linkage and the removal of trees that would be required to extend Alice Street for the lot.
“We use that trail every day,” said neighbouring property owner Sarah Waggott. “The conditions they have proposed are not good enough. We see this as a tipping point for this neighbourhood.”
Planning consultant Colin Travis represented the property owners - Joe and Lynda Elmes - at the committee meeting. Travis said the portion of the property proposed for the severance is zoned to allow residential development, while the remainder of the long narrow lot, a former apple orchard, is zoned for future development.
“The owners have been working on the conditions (of the previous consent approved by the committee). Unfortunately, they ran out of time,” said Travis, who said the extension of Alice Street would be 50 metres, would not impact the Beaver River trail and that the 16 or 17 trees that had to be removed to open the street would be replaced on a two-to-one basis.
Travis also said the trail linkage would be continued.
“That will be a condition of approval,” he said.
The property also has frontage on Louisa Street East and several speakers suggested the owners use Louisa Street to access the property rather than cutting down trees and disturbing the trail linkage on the unopened portion of Alice Street.
After hearing from the public, town staff and the proponents, McKinlay moved a motion to defer the decision until an agreement between the property owner and the town for use of the Alice Street road allowance is in place.
The application will come back to the committee in November, or sooner should an agreement be reached before that.
McKinlay said there was enough “uncertainty” about an agreement on the use of the road for the committee to defer a decision.
“I’d like to see that process finished or near completion before we deal with it,” he said.
Oliver wanted the motion to defer to require that the plan for tree replacement also be in place before the committee makes a decision.
However, McKinlay objected to his motion to defer being amended to add the tree plan.
McKinlay said it is not the committee of adjustment’s mandate to deal with the tree situation - that is the domain of the town.
He said the committee is responsible for ensuring the proposed new lot has road access.
