[0:02] Um I would like to see the approval of
the agenda if there's any conflict of de
[0:08] of interest declaration.
>> I have
[0:16] » go ahead.
>> Thank you. I'm going to declare a
[0:18] conflict of interest. Um, since this is
council business and this is a decision
[0:25] that will be made by council, I'm going
to declare conflict because my son works
[0:29] for the oyster company in question.
>> Okay.
[0:32] » Okay.
>> Thank you.
[0:33] » So, I am going to actually
leave the room.
[0:40] » All right. So before I start this
meeting, before we go beyond the uh
[0:45] presentation, I'd like to read how this
public hearing is managed. So good good
[0:53] evening everybody. Thank you for
attending and the public as well.
[0:56] Tonight's public hearing gives council
an opportunity to listen to public input
[1:01] and consider it when making a decision.
The decision on the development
[1:07] agreement does not happen during the
public hearing. It will be brought back
[1:11] up during the regular agenda at the time
council can choose or make a decision or
[1:18] to defer. We will begin this evening
with a brief presentation on the
[1:23] proposed development from our director
of protective services Renee Jedri.
[1:29] Following the presentation we will hear
comments from members of the public.
[1:34] After the public hearing we will take
five or 10 minutes recess and start the
[1:37] executive meeting. We ask that all
comments be relevant, respectful, and
[1:42] specific to the development itself,
which is to bring the existing use of
[1:47] public of subject public property,
sorry, into compliance with the existing
[1:53] municipality planning documents to
ensure everyone has an opportunity to be
[1:57] heard. Speaking time will be limited to
three to five minutes per speaker.
[2:03] Again, thank you for attending and we
will begin with a presentation from
[2:07] Renee. And I just want to remind that
this is not a debate
[2:12] uh of council. This is strictly uh to
hear what the public has to say and what
[2:16] Renee has to say. Take it Renee.
>> Mr.
[2:23] » Everybody.
>> Okay. Yeah. I thought it was good. Uh
[2:29] tonight we are presenting the
development agreement application for
[2:32] the marine related agriculture use on
the property at 6592
[2:37] highway 3. Uh property identification
number is 90341140
[2:44] Neilbrook. This is public hearing
scheduled for today January 29th 2026.
[2:49] I'll walk you through the application
details, the policy context and public
[2:53] engagement and then and the next steps.
So, we have the application details. Um,
[3:00] the applicant is seeking a development
agreement to bring the long-standing
[3:03] agriculture activities into compliance
with the current municipal planning
[3:07] documents. These operations have been in
place since 1995. The applicant also
[3:12] owns properties directly east and west
of the subject site. Note that some
[3:17] aspects including driveway access to
Highway 3, activities on Eel Lake
[3:22] agriculture licensing and operations
fall under provincial regulations.
[3:27] This application is limited solely to
the property previously identified on
[3:31] slide one and any other property would
be subject to the same application
[3:36] process.
Uh the subject property is approximately
[3:40] 93 hectares with nearly 293 ft of
frontage. Current use includes sorting
[3:46] and grading building associated with
marine related aquaculture operations.
[3:51] The remainder of the property is well
treed and vacant.
[3:55] Access is provided through the adjacent
property which is under the same
[3:58] ownership connecting to highway 3.
The property is located within the
[4:04] coastal communities CC designation in
the municipal planning strategy which
[4:10] I'll refer to MPS which supports a broad
mix of residential, commercial,
[4:14] recreational, agriculture, forestry and
light industrial uses. This reflects a
[4:20] diverse nature of a argal coastal
landscape. The CC zone accommodates
[4:27] traditional coastal industries such as
agriculture alongside housing and other
[4:32] other compatible uses.
This zoning approaches approach
[4:36] recognized that many Argos coastal
community functions as mixeduse areas
[4:41] similar to rural centers but tailored to
coastal conditions. The property was
[4:46] recently subdivided to separate the
resident from the business.
[4:52] Um policy considerations would be staff
evaluated the proposal again against the
[4:57] municipal planning strategy with
detailed review included on slide 9 and
[5:02] 10. The coastal community designation
allows council to consider amendments
[5:07] through development agreements.
Therefore, no municipal planning
[5:11] strategy amendments is required. This
application is specifically evaluated
[5:16] under policy 3.3.7
of the MPS agriculture indooroutdoor.
[5:24] The development agreement addresses only
landbased components. The municipality
[5:27] does not regulate in lake agriculture
practices.
[5:32] The area along Highway 3 includes a
variety of uses under coastal community
[5:36] designations including other
agricultural operations around Eel Lake.
[5:41] Surrounding lots include residential
uses under the same ownership as the
[5:45] subject property. Um, directly to the
west of this property is currently zoned
[5:50] coastal community industrial. Staff have
reviewed proposal relation to policy
[5:55] intent and surrounding land use
contexts.
[5:59] Um, so we followed the all public
participation requirements in the
[6:04] municipal planning strategy. A
notification sign was installed on the
[6:08] property May 16, 2025. A public notice
has appeared in January 1st and January
[6:17] 15th issue of the Tri County Vanguard.
And then a notice of public hearing was
[6:22] mailed to property owners uh within 152
meters um or 500 ft. We rounded up in
[6:29] the conversion. Um, public hearing is
required under section 206 of the
[6:33] Municipal Government Act and council's
decision is subject to a right of
[6:38] appeal.
Uh, so staff is continuing to accept and
[6:44] review public feedback and as it's
received, council uh scheduled tonight's
[6:49] public hearing. Uh, the notices were
mailed to the property owners and we
[6:55] only received one inquiry about the
sign. After the explanation, the prop uh
[7:00] they provided no comments. Uh one
property owner raised uh preference that
[7:06] delivery trucks pull fully onto the
property when loading unloading.
[7:09] However, they expressed full support of
the development. Um after the public
[7:14] hearing, council may choose to approve
or refuse or uh table the development
[7:19] agreement. And slides nine and 10 just
uh identify the policies that uh it
[7:25] meets that this development agreement
meets.
[7:29] Thank you.
>> That's it for you. That's it. Okay. We
[7:33] have uh Dale Pachce online who would
like to speak.
[7:45] Hi Dale.
[7:51] We can't hear you. Can you hear us?
[8:06] You're still on mute.
[8:20] » Can we have Leah try to speak to see if
we can hear her speak?
[8:29] There.
>> Try it.
[8:38] Hang on one second, guys.
[9:09] Okay, Dale, you should be good to go
now. Try again, please.
[9:12] » Can you hear me now?
>> Yes, we can.
[9:15] » Okay. Okay. Um,
this was kind of new to us.
[9:21] We had a notice that was dropped off in
our back door in the rain around 11:00
[9:29] at night. We only found it the following
day. And my concern is for the safety of
[9:39] vehicles going up the hill from my
place. And there's a curve here. And
[9:46] it's very dangerous to have that
18-wheeler parked in the road to unload
[9:54] and load
the pro produce.
[9:59] And um that was one of my main concerns.
But the
[10:06] the main thing is we always seem to be
the last ones to find out and
[10:12] everything's approved by the time we
found out about it.
[10:17] So I'm quite disappointed with the
municipality, right? I know this is just
[10:23] about the bylaw, but uh
it's been it started a long time,
[10:33] two years going and we we feel like we
don't have a voice anymore in this
[10:40] municipality. It's just industry and the
residents don't have a voice anymore.
[10:49] So, I'm hoping there's a an
investigation going on on 16 COIs, and I
[10:58] don't believe that this should be
approved until the COIs have been
[11:04] investigated properly.
>> So,
[11:08] that's what I have to say.
>> Thank you, Dale.
[11:15] Okay, next we have Leah Lewis.
[11:23] » No comment.
[11:27] » Thank you, Leah.
Um,
[11:32] I guess there's no other comments.
[11:44] Is he is he registered?
>> He's not on.
[11:53] So, we can move to a journ
[11:59] as a suggestion if there's somebody um
we we don't have of one person that's
[12:06] registered that's not online as of yet.
Um I don't know maybe if you want to I
[12:12] mean I I know we can't delay
indefinitely the the public hearing but
[12:17] there are other people in the in here in
the crowd that may wish to speak.
[12:23] » Okay.
>> And so that may allow for the person who
[12:27] registered enough time to join.
I'm just I'm making the suggestion in
[12:33] support of
>> you know sometimes things happen and
[12:37] » sometimes technology is an issue and I
just I'm just trying to buy the general
[12:42] person time that's all.
>> So does anybody in the audience wish to
[12:47] speak?
[12:50] We have nobody.
[12:55] » Does council want to wait?
>> I'd just like to speak one thing.
[13:01] He said,
>> um, just just wondering about the states
[13:06] that the notice was dropped off in the
rain around 11:00 or so at night or that
[13:11] she found it in the rain. Just wondering
if we have a policy or what the policy
[13:15] is for dropping off these notices and if
this one may have been dropped off
[13:19] earlier. I I just I'd just like to know
what for
[13:24] for just to know that's all what we do
there. How we do it. See you.
[13:28] » Thank you.
[13:32] Yeah, respectfully. Uh because we're
still in the public hearing, I believe
[13:35] the most appropriate thing is to hang on
to that question and then we will give
[13:39] it the proper answer at the time that
it's discussed in the meeting. Uh the
[13:42] purpose right now is to make sure that
the public has a chance to. So any sort
[13:46] of clarification questions of that
nature, we will deal with uh on the
[13:49] agenda item if that's okay.
>> Perfect. Okay. Thank you.
[13:52] » We won't forget.
>> Thank you.
[14:00] So I expected uh
more questions than this. I don't know
[14:05] if we can wait.
[14:11] I guess we adjourn this meeting.
Okay.
[14:17] Thank you. So we will move on to our uh
regular executive meeting.
[14:24] » Yeah. We just Mr. Chair.
>> Oh yeah. We need a
[14:27] » we need a reset.
>> We need a recess
[14:28] » on the a reset on the technology so that
the technology can work for the new
[14:33] meeting.
>> So we'll take five 10 minutes five
[14:36] minutes should be
>> take a recess.