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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/18/1967Page 4 Meeting of Committee of Adjustment,<May 15, 1967: Mr. William Reid, the proposed purchaser and Mr. W. Kay Lycett, B.A., agent for the applicant appeared in support of -this application. No other person appeared in support of, or in opposition to, this appli c ation. The Secretary -Treasurer was requested to read the minutes of meeting held on May 8th, 1967, for Mr. W. Kay Lycettls information. The Committee stated they inspected the premises on Saturday, May 13, 1967, at which time no one was on the premises. The Committee also called on hir. William Reid, to take him to the site, but he was not available. The division line of any severance would apparently have to run to the north of a former chicken house, now being used as an outbuilding to house a lawn mower etc., and an existing large barn which is to pass with the agricultural land. The two houses will be left on approximately lz acres of land. The Committee considered the following facts; (1) This is in essence the result of a termination of an agricultural operation, with the owner retaining dwellings and selling the barn and lands for an agricultural purpose. (2) Adequate road frontages existed for all buildings with no parcel being; landlocked. (3) The buildings fronted on an excellent paved and improved road. (4) No ne- dwellings would be considered because of the granting of this severance. Application granted on motion of K. Schoenmaker, seconded b'y E.R.Lovekin. carried. Classification "E" and "I" General Business - The Committee added the following key index classifications for all applications; "d" Infilling Operation "K" Pre-existing Documentation Supporting Intention to Sever The Committee then reviewed in some detail their practice of establishing fixed categories in order to clarify their policies and to facilitate ready reference by all concerned. . Meeting adjourned at 12:00 p.m. Cecretary-Treasurer ftEETING of the CUYI`1'TEE OF ADJUSTnPENT for the TOWIISHIP OF CLARKE Thursday, May 18, 1967, at 3:00 p.m. Present E.H. Love kin, Chairman, Council Chamber, Orono K. Schoenmaker, Member Mss. Ellen Ni. Yeo, Secretartr-Treasurer A meeting was called to discuss further matters pertaining to .Application File No. 63-67. Page 2 Meeting of Committee of Adjustment, May 18, 1967: Appfication File No. 6367 W. $a7T Lycett B.A., Agent, Barrister & Solicitor, Orono, Ontario, Donald Gordon*Henry, Shirley Ann Henry, Owners, R.R. #2, Orono, Ontario, for part of Lot 31, Con VI, Submission No.'8413-47-r9 l ` J As business arising from minutes of meeting held on May 15, 1967, this application was considered and an interim decision given. This is an application`by a person owning approximately 6 acres of land for a single severance. The agent for the applicant has stated his case well, in that he has defined and confined his submission to the Committee of Adjustment on two main points, which are: (1) Closeness to a settlement area, namely, the Police Village of Orono (Thd Committee look upon it more as a case of a satellite area of Orono). (2) This is an infilling operation in conformity with the general character of the area. The matter was well argued before the Committee by the applicant and his agent, as will be evidenced by the minutes of the May 15th meeting of the Committee of Adjustment. The Committee accept the evidence that the applicant has built a high quality dwelling house and the suggestion that the person to whom he is selling will also be building a better type home carrying a high average assessment is accepted. The applicant is not anxious in any way to depreciate the value of his property by adding a sub -standard building in proximity to his present dwelling, and there is no problem in this regard whatsoever. In relation to proximity to a settlement area, it is noted that the Police Village of Orono is not in the immediate proximity of the land in question and the likelihood of an extension of water services in the immediate future is a matter of speculation, the dwelling houses to the south, being served by communal wells already installed. Should municipal services be extended to this area, any future applications to the Committee of Adjustment, would in our opinion, be different in character because of this factor. The Committee are of the opinion that the theory of closeness to a settlement area should be confined to properties in the immediate proximity to settlement areas and even then it is a dangerous principle, as it does nothing to prevent urban sprawl. Sooner or later, the line must be drawn and except in the most exceptional cases, applications based on the theory of proximity to settlement areas will be carefully scrutinized by the Committee. In relation to the second ground of the argument, namely, that this is an infilling application, the Committee are of the opinion that this approach has merit. The character of the area was established by a series of deeds which sub -divided a number of lots from adjoining farm properties before the passing of the bylaw. In our opinion, no such sub- . divisions would have been allowed had the bylaw been in effect and from the dates of the deeds it is apparent that these separations were deliberately created to circumvent the impending bylaw. As these lots were created in a situation which was legal at the time, no one can be censored for the`creation of such lots. The Committee \ are of the opinion, however, that it would be fallacious logic to J justify further subdivision on the basis`of an unfortunate situation which arose prior to subdivision control. To summarize: An undesireable situation from a planning view- point was created by a series of acts that transpired before control was enacted. These pacts were in no way- related to the applicant. Page 3 Meeting of Committee of Adjustment, May 18, 1967: The applicant is asking the Committee to exercise their discretion to permit him to create a severance which will, he says, bring his 'land into confcrmftp with abutting lands. As lots to the East and South are composed of minimal size lots of 15',000 square feet, it viould appear inequitable to insist that the applicant continue to own and possess a lot of the size of 6 acres facing on two roads, with a frontage of nearly 1,000 feet. It is also clear that; it would not be proper to`permit him to divide this large parcel into a series of small lots, thus expanding and multiply- ing a poor planning situation. In an attempt to balance the question of fairness to established residents and maintain the premise established bir subdivision control, which are deemed to be in the public interest, the Committee are of the opinion that the applicant in these special circumstances should be granted one severance only. Should future development provide municipal services, a further application might be'successful, but, `only if the applicant could show substantial change in circumstances favorable to his application. Any proposed severance should be`of an area of an acre or more and should not be so located as to create automatically a second severance. This decision is specifically predicated on the fact that the land abutts on two roads and that the two parcels will face one on each road. It is, therefore, the interim decision of the Committee that: (1) The Committee will give further consideration to an application permitting one severance of a lot of`generous size, so located that it does not automatically create a second severance, and so located that it faces on the Leskard Road. (2) That, upon the applicant submitting such an application, the Committee will further consider the matter. (3) The agent shall be free to submit to the Committee, at any time, a draft proposal so he may then order a formal survey. The Committee wish, for purposes of clarification, to make it perfectly clear that this decision does not establish the concept that every owner of a parcel of land of less than 10 acres is entitled to one severance. This case stands on its own particular and exceptional facts. The Secretary was requested to forward a copy of the interim decision to the agent W. Kay Lycett H.A., with a copy for the applicant. Classified "J" ivieeting a journed at 4:00 p.m. Secretary -Treasurer j airman