Severance decision provokes appeals

Thursday, June 16, 2011

by SUSAN MANN

Three groups are appealing a Huron County council committee of the whole severance decision that created a non-farm rural residence in a prime agricultural area.

The groups are: the ministry of municipal affairs and housing, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and Frieshaven Farms Ltd. They’re appealing the decision the committee made to approve the application of Robert Vodden and Joanne Palmer to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).

Scott Tousaw, director of the Huron County planning department, says in an email it typically takes four to six months for the OMB to schedule a hearing.

The committee of the whole approved the severance in May. The parcel is located in East Ward (Hullett) in Central Huron. Central Huron Council recommended the application be approved with conditions.

The county’s planning department recommended denying the application because it didn’t conform to the Provincial Policy Statement, the county’s Official Plan or the Central Huron Official Plan. None of those planning documents permit the creation of a non-farm residential lot, Huron County planner Susanna Reid said in an earlier interview. But the committee approved the severance application with conditions.

There weren’t any objections to the severance application either from surrounding landowners or anyone else prior to the committee’s decision to approve the application, Reid said in an earlier interview. BF