Good morning everyone and welcome to the
township of Georgian Bay. I'd like to
call this meeting of the planning
council for Wednesday, October 26, 2026
to order at
>> Did I What did I say?
>> October.
Oh, I'm getting ahead of
myself. Well, I'd like to welcome you to
the fourth meeting of planning council.
[laughter]
Okay. No, sorry. I'd like to Wednesday,
August 26, 2026. I'd like to call this
meeting to order at 9:06.
Um, our apologies for the delayed uh,
start. Um, not only was there a serious
accident on the 400 northbound that
delayed some people getting here and our
thoughts were are to all those who were
involved. Um, but then of course we had
some technical difficulties to further
delay us. So I appreciate your patience.
And with that, in the spirit of
reconciliation, we wish to acknowledge
the enduring relationship between
indigenous peoples and the territories
they have traditionally occupied. We
recognize and deeply appreciate the
historic connection they have to the
place, the land, the water, the sky, and
all that live on, in, and above it.
We are great, excuse me, we are grateful
for the opportunity to meet here and we
want to thank all the generations of
indigenous peoples who have taken care
of this land and who continue to care
for it.
And we want to show our respect.
Hundreds of years after the first
treaties were signed, they remain
relevant today. May they guide our
decisions and our actions. We commit to
learn, to educate, to honor sacred
places, and to take action towards real
truth and reconciliation.
Reg.
We also wish to acknowledge the
commitment of the residents of the
Georgian Bay Township. We recognized
that this municipality operates because
of the financial support and
volunteerism of a diverse community,
including seasonal and full-time
residents, volunteers, and businesses
who sustain our services,
infrastructure, staff, and local
democracy. We all share common interest
in having a transparent, fiscally
responsible, well-governed municipality.
council. The corporation, including its
municipal staff, commit to serve with an
accountability, fiscal responsibility,
environmental stewardship to create a
serviceoriented culture that focuses on
helping and acting in the best interests
of the community. Thank you,
council. Any declarations of pecuniary
interest or conflict of interest?
Seeing none, I will let those who are
online uh either in front of us on
screen or observing us that we have in
the the room here maybe 15 people in the
audience um who will have an opportunity
those who wish to speak will have that
opportunity shortly
this Morning. We are holding a special
meeting of the planning council
regarding the township's 2026 2028
official plan comprehensive review and
bill 98 new framework update. I'll
briefly summarize the procedure that
will be followed. First, the clerk will
advise council when, how, and to whom
notice of this special meeting was
circulated. Staff will then provide an
overview of the official plan
comprehensive review, including how the
review is proposed to take place in the
new official plan framework resulting
from recent changes to the planning act.
Following the staff presentation,
members of the public will have an
opportunity to provide comments and ask
questions regarding the review. We ask
that comments remain relevant to the
review and that speakers be respectful
of everyone's opportunity to
participate.
Anyone wishing to speak is asked to
state their name and address for the
record and to sign in on the sheet
provided.
Following the public comments, members
of council will have an opportunity to
ask questions and provide comments.
To our clerk,
notice of this public meeting.
Notice I'm sorry. The special public
meeting of planning council was provided
through multiple channels including the
township's website, lobby, television,
and email distribution to associations
and external participants. The notice
was circulated at least 30 days prior to
this morning's meeting. This special
meeting is being held under section 263
of the planning act as part of the
township's official plan comprehensive
review. The purpose of today's meeting
is to provide information regarding how
the review will take place, discuss the
new official plan framework resulting
from recent amendments to the planning
act, and receive comments and questions
regarding the review from community,
stakeholders, and residents. Everyone is
encouraged to participate in the
official plan comprehensive review.
Comments may be provided during today's
meeting or submitted to the township's
planning department throughout the
review process. Please note that all
comments and submissions received will
form part of the public record for
review.
Thank you very much. Um my brief summary
of all that is this is where we open the
door to the whole process that's going
to take place over the next few years.
So this is the door opening. Uh and so
uh you know keep that in mind that this
is by far not the only opportunity
people will have to comment.
>> Madame clerk any correspondence you wish
to let us know about?
>> No comments have been received yet. No
correspondent. Okay.
>> I'm now going to turn the uh meeting
over to our township planner Jeff Kraki
who will provide an overview of the
official plan comprehensive review the
process moving forward and the matters
being considered through this review.
Thank you Mr. Mayor and with your
permission I will share my screen
and I've run into a technical glitch. I
thought sharing screen was already
>> okay.
Good morning everyone. My name is you've
already heard is Jeff Kratkkey and I'm a
planner here at the township of Georgian
Bay. And although I've prepared a long
report which everyone has the
opportunity to read, I'm going to keep
my comments today very brief because the
main purpose of this meeting is to hear
from you.
But there were two other purposes for
this meeting. And and the first was just
to give the public a a very high level
overview of what we're hoping to do
during this review of our official plan.
And again, as Derek I think has
mentioned to the folks in the room, but
I think everyone online will be hearing
for the first time and the mayor has
mentioned too, this is just the
beginning. This is us opening the door
to the public and to everyone, including
indigenous communities and others to
help us to find out what the new
official plan for Georgian Bay will be.
Um, and this conversation will continue
for at least two more years, if not
longer.
Again, I think I've already talked about
the purposes of this meeting, but just
quickly there to discuss how this review
is taking place, the new official plan
framework required by Bill 98, and to
hear from you.
This review is taking place
not just as the typical review and the
typical review and official plan
requires us to look at how the official
plan remains
in consistency with the PPS and
conformity with the Muscoa official plan
as well as with the community's
aspirations, goals, desires, and
intentions.
But this one also requires us to look at
this new official plan framework that
has been required through the bill 98
amendments to the planning act.
I think importantly I need to apologize
that the notice that is available
electronically
has an error in it. Um, I was trying to
be as as helpful as I could uh by
providing a direct link to the uh
previous report regarding the official
plan outline, but instead I provided a
link to the wrong report. It's um the
link that's in the notice goes to
planning services report 2026 1220 sorry
122 when it should have gone to planning
services staff report 2026125.
Fortunately, the district is satisfied
that because the other link above that
direct link to the report goes to our
review web page and on that review web
page, the correct reports are linked
that we are moving forward. But I just
wanted to apologize to everyone for
that. I think the other important thing
that I really want to highlight is we
don't have a newspaper.
So, unfortunately, all of our notices
will be given electronically. And what
that means is that we're asking everyone
to go to the township web pages and hit
the subscribe button so that you receive
an electronic notification when a notice
is issued and you can look at it
yourself once it's issued.
Also, we've identified some preliminary
topics, but again, these are just
preliminary and if anyone feels the need
to discuss things that we've not looked
at on this preliminary list, we will be
very happy to hear from you and to
consider adding it to that list. And the
preliminary list of topics was in the
notice, but I think they bear repeating.
environmental protection, indigenous
engagement, new designations and
schedules, policies for those new
designations,
and then the issue of how we are going
to look at the relationship between the
bill 98 new official plan framework and
other certain aspects of our official
plan's current relationship is still to
be determined.
water access
levels
and navigation and marinas,
employment, commercial and resorts,
housing,
the Port Sever Village Center, which has
been long planned but is still
unrealized,
the McTar boundary,
recreational water quality,
and big picture shoreline use and
accessory buildings and structures.
The other part of my presentation today
is regarding bill 98 to the planning act
and bill 98 has now amended the planning
act. However, certain parts of that
amendment have yet to be given effect by
an order in council, and that really, I
think, is likely leading to new
regulations regarding how the official
plan of the township relates to the
district's official plan, the waterfront
communities, and the site and area
specific policies.
So, we will still need to adapt our
review and we do not know when the
province will address this matter, only
that they've highlighted it on the
environmental registry.
In addition, we're going to have to
change the framework of our official
plan. And so, the bulk of my report,
which I'm not going to get into details
because it's there, but if you have
questions, I'm happy to answer them. The
bulk of my report is really how do we
fit the pieces of our current official
plan into that new framework. And you
will see duplications there. And that's
intentional because there are instances
where we have policies in one location
in the official plan where they will now
have to be in two locations and
separated out. So essentially the
policies will have to be unmarried from
each other into
the same meaning or perhaps slightly
different meanings further to whatever
we find in this review but they will
need to be changed and what my report is
meant to be is that starting point from
where we do changes tracked. So the
changes tracked versions that will
follow will not represent that shuffling
of the deck. I'll I'll call it that
shuffling of the deck is represented by
the tables and figures in this report.
And so it is an important report um but
it's also not the end. It is just the
beginning.
So, the next steps are going to, as I've
said, go for many years, but the
immediate next steps, hopefully during
the rest of 2026,
will be for everyone who's interested to
subscribe on the township website.
Number two, I will be preparing a report
to bring back to council to discuss what
planning staff heard at this meeting.
And number three, we've already received
through our outreach to um indigenous
communities a request for a special
meeting of council um to receive a
presentation from the Mady Nation of
Ontario and we will be holding that
special meeting. Now I want to
distinguish between special meetings
today and the special meetings that may
be may take place throughout the
process. Today's special meeting is
under a specific subsection of the
planning act. Whereas the special
meeting later this year will not be
under the planning act. It's simply um
not a typical council meeting.
Therefore, it's called a special
meeting, but it is not a 263 special
meeting under the planning act. And I
just want everyone to understand that.
And again, our outreach to the
indigenous communities and to the
district staff as our approval authority
will continue at every single step
during the process.
And I do I I'm sorry. I don't know what
happened to my other slide. I did have
one more slide with the resolution
that's before council um which has been
revised but as uh uh the mayor will read
it later um I will uh leave it for him
to deal with it. Thank you.
>> All right. Thank you very much for that
overview. Um, at this point I'm going to
naively ask, are there any members of
the public who wish to comment on this
application on on this presentation? And
you've already, as you've already heard
from the clerk, um, please, you know,
come forward and give us your name. I'm
going to go first to the folks online
because I see we have a number of people
online and ask those online who are in
the attendees category. If you wish to
speak, please put up your hand and
you'll be moved over because I recognize
some of those names from the listing we
have here. So, if anybody online who
wishes to speak to this matter, please
raise your hand and you'll be
pulled on over.
I think they're all getting a cup of
coffee at the moment. In the meantime,
anybody here want to lead off the
discussion?
Okay,
the brave planner in the group.
» Thank you, worship and members of
council. My name is Jamie Robinson. I'm
a planner and a partner with MHBC
planning and Barry. Just a few I know
this is section 26 meeting. So, it's
really just identifying topics and areas
for consideration through the OP review.
Uh there's just a there's a few clients
that I represent in the township of
Georgian Bay that have identified some
potential issues. Um I think you you
wanted my name and add my address is 113
Collier Street in Barry with MHBC. So
just in terms of a couple of clients and
a couple of uh comments. Firstly, uh I
represent Ken Otto who's a property
owner on Six Mile Lake. One thing he
would like considered through the OP
review is strengthening of the narrow
water body policies within the
township's OP specifically to make it
very clear that these areas are
distinguished from other areas where
there aren't narrow water bodies that
there's greater development restrictions
placed on those areas. Um he's recently
gone through an OOLT hearing related to
that matter and we believe there needs
to be a strengthening of policies to to
make it very clear for everybody
involved what the the rules are with
respect to development on narrow water
bodies.
Uh secondly, two property owners on
Georgian Bay, Mr. Campbell Oller and
Eric Lamond. They would just like to
make sure that there's policies in place
with respect to or continue to be
policies with respect to access and
changing water levels and providing
permissions and direction to the zoning
bylaw to allow for dock increases,
dock length increases or potentially
shifting of dock locations without going
through a planning approvals process to
do so to address changing water levels
and the access considerations on
Georgian Okay.
Uh thirdly, I represent Oak Bay
Developments as well and would like they
would like to see some policies
considered within the OP to implement
direction in the planning act with
respect to um delegation of approval
authorities to staff in some regards
specifically related to the removal of
holding symbols and uh other options to
potentially expedite
development approvals where there's
technical considerations at play which
really aren't which are supported by
evidence or supported by material from
experts whether it's um engineering
experts or whether it's um environmental
experts. Uh they feel that that there's
technical considerations involved. Those
should be delegated to staff as a propo
as opposed to a council approval. The
planning act does allow for that now and
it's something that would help uh move
development
uh forward quicker where technical
requirements have been met.
Uh I also represent Hall's Cottages uh
and the Delawana Inn and then also
Picnic Island Resort in Kenquino.
They would like to see some polic
combined. and they would like to see
policies in the official plan that um
encourage redevelopment of existing
resort properties.
And through that, one mechanism they'd
like considered is potential operate
opportunities
and clarity in the policies surrounding
residential being permitted as a
component of redevelopment of resort
properties. Um with respect to that
comment, it is important to maintain the
commercial function of those of existing
resort properties. However, we believe
that commercial function can still be
maintained and in some cases enhanced
through uh additional residential
opportunities on those sites. One
example I'll just provide is that u from
a lending perspective, banks are um not likely to lend money for commercial
redevelopment, but they will lend money
for residential development. So where
there's a portion of the site that's
available for residential, that could be
an influx of cash into the into the
redevelopment proposal from outside
sources, which could benefit the
commercial aspect too by bringing more
people and allowing for reinvestment in
the commercial portion. So the main
comment there is council we'd recommend
be considerate of the economics at play
for these redevelopments of existing
commercial resort properties and um
ensuring that the policies recognize the
economic function these properties have
historically provided and can can
hopefully be enhanced over time.
Um also like to comment on behalf of 117
Port 7 Road which is the redevelopment
that's happening at the uh Sunny Lee
Cottages and they own some abuing
property as well. Just through the
experience and the redevelopment of of
that property and going through the
planning approvals process with those
folks. um really it's sort of the first
redevelopment proposal we've seen in
Port Severign and and um so there's I I
think obviously some lessons learned
from that that can can help the
municipality going forward. So, one of
those is and one of those comments is
specifically that uh an updated policy
framework within Port Severign in the
community to really recognize the
differences the key differences of of
redevelopment within a settlement area
versus outside of a settlement area. um
recognize that there's different
considerations at play and key values or
key instances, key opportunities within
settlement areas versus outside of
settlement areas. and uh looking for
potential opportunities to expedite
those settlement area approvals as well.
um to reduce reduce time, but make sure
still that those technical requirements
are met to the best uh are met to ensure
we have protection of the water body and
protection of the shoreline and and
really looking for a net improvement
overall from a an environmental
perspective, but still allowing for that
influx of of
um
of redevelopment that will assist the
economy and the local businesses within
the community. So, with that, sorry for
the long-windedness, but that's a sort
of summary of uh of the clients that I
represent uh currently that have
requested that comments be made on on at
this section 26 meeting. So, we'll
provide something in writing to staff as
well. It's for consideration going
forward. Thank you.
>> Well, thank you very much for those uh
half dozen points.
Um I've not seen any hands yet raised
online, so I'll say who else who wants
to volunteer next to come forward.
Mr. Bean,
» can you just Can you just push the
silver button there to light?
>> There we go. for [clears throat]
good morning, Mayor Coot here, members
of council, senior staff. Uh my name is
Tom Bane. I'm here today uh representing
the Eastern Georgia Bay Protective
Society. Um
I am going to make a presentation on
environmental protection and water
quality uh in the township of Georgian
Bay over the last 70 years.
of and it's my story. Um a
number of years ago I read a book
entitled CD How by Robert Boswell and
William Kilbornne. CD How was Minister
of Municip in the Mackenzie Kings
government during the Second World War years and early 50s.
I I spoke about how's enjoyment of peace
and solitude after boarding one of the
CPR boats at Port McNickel and traveling
north on Georgian Bay and Lake Superior
to his constituency in Fort William Port
Arthur, now called Thunder Bay.
When I was a young fellow, I used to
travel my small boat to Bowley Bay and
watch the CPR boats leaving Port
McNickel and begin their travel north
through the gap between Bowley Island
and the mainland. The boats were dark
green in color with black smoke stacks
and belch black smoke from burning coal.
One day I noticed a huge flock of
seagulls following one of the CPR boats.
On inspection, I found the surface of
Georgia Bay littered with both kitchen
waste uh and uh human waste.
However, people in the know at the time
told me not to worry that Georgian Bay
had great powers of dilution and there
were aquatic creatures that would eat
and clean up what was left over. And I I should not be too concerned. That was
70 years ago.
In 1993, the Eastern Georgia Bay
Protective Society was formed.
Originally named the Honey Harbor Patrol
incorporated and beame began surface
water and bottom sediment sampling and
testing. We tested a range of pathogens
including total caulifforms, ficoforms,
E.coli, entricoxy and sudamonus organosa
to achieve consistency and reliability.
In 1994,95 and 96, the Eastern Georgia
Bay Protector Society collaborated with
the University of Toronto Department of
Microbiology, Dr. Pat Cipherid, and the
Department of Bioatistics, Dr. Bernard
Choy, to sample and test 22 live aboard
boat anchorages from Honey Harbor to
Good Harbor, Good Harbors north of Perry
Sound.
Sampling both surface water and bottom
sediment was done twice a week, Sundays
and Wednesdays for 10 weeks for three
years. Testing was done for five
pathogens and yielded over 6,000 data
points for statistical analysis. The
University of Toronto reported an
absolute correlation between pathogens
in the surface water and the presence of
liverboard boats. The Georgian Bay
Association unfortunately rejected the
University of Toronto conclusions and
thought the voters could be convinced
not to dump their gray water. That
program over three years cost $240,000.
In 1997 and 1998, the Eastern Georgia
Bay Protector Society conducted over 700
on-site septics inspections using
students trained by the Ontario Ministry
of Housing in Honey Harbor, Cognine, and
Gohome Bay with property owners
permission.
There were many non-compliant and
defective systems. The data was provided
to the township of Georgian Bay, but no
follow-up action was taken.
In 1998, the Georgia Bay [clears throat]
Protective Society met with the
Honorable Norm Sterling, Minister of the
Environment.
Minister Sterling told us that we should
find a solution to the gray water
problem and the septic problem and not
to continue to complain about it. In
response to the University of Toronto
report, the Township of Georgian Bay
passed bylaw 95-78
to rec [clears throat] to regulate the
dumping of gray water into Georgian Bay.
It's called the graywater bylaw.
However, the Ontario Ministry of
Environment deemed the new bylaw to be
uninforceable because it was contrary to
Ontario Regulation 343, which allowed
the dumping of gray water. On October
the 15th, 1999, Mayor Michael Kennedy
wrote to the honor honorable Tony
Clement, Minister of the Environment,
and pleaded with him to amend Ontario
Regulation 393. There was no response.
In the year 2000, the Eastern Georgia
Bay Protective Society formed the Great
Lakes Clean Water Limited Partnership to
find solutions to the graywater problem
with libertar boats and septic system
problems at waterfront cottages. $3
million was raised from investors to
develop new technology. In 2005 or 2006,
we received netty evaluation from the
Ontario Ministry of the Environment. In
2012, we received Canada ETV
verification from Environment Canada. In
2017, we received validation from
Fleming College at Trent University
Center for Alternative Wastewater
Treatment after 5 years of on-site
testing.
As well, we achieved compliance with NSF
350 for wastewater reuse.
In 2018, the Ontario Ministry of Housing
Water Technology Acceleration Project
rejected our application under the
Ontario Building Code Part and suggested
we start in California or perhaps uh in
China but not Ontario. We were told this
was to protect the jobs of tree cutters,
the excavators, the sand and gravel
haulers and the septic installers. We
simply did not understand
the politics of the Ford government on
how to get acceptance and approval.
In [clears throat] recent years, the
government of Canada has allowed small
cruise ships to ply the waters of the
Great Lakes, including Georgian Bay, in
the summer months. We know we all know
the the Pearl Mist that stops in
Midland. These small cruise ships ply
the salt waters of the Caribbean and
elsewhere during the winter months.
These ships have wastewater treatment
systems that are based on ionization
using salt water as a medium.
[clears throat]
These systems do not function using
fresh water. In spite of this, the
government of Canada allows these cruise
ships to dump essentially untreated
sewage into Georgian Bay as long as they
are two kilometers offshore.
The Georgia Boy Association has been
following the conduct of this for
several years and has been unable to
receive answers to their questions from
the bureaucracy.
In 2021, the Ontario Ministry of
Environment, Conservation, and Parks
issued a certificate of for approval for
a marina in Honey Harbor to cond to
[clears throat]
uh treat sewage uh to conduct to sorry
to construct a sewage work to treat
concentrated sewage from 135 resident
livid boats in an unlimited number of
transient livboard boats. It is big
enough to support a two-bedroom cottage
and there are no requirements for
reduction of either pathogens or
nutrients, only a discharge limit of
1,000 liters per day. In fact, the
system discharges unknown unknown
unlimited volume of untreated sewage
from liverboard boats each day. The
surrounding waters have total phosphorus
levels of concentrations 10 times the
background levels. [clears throat] And
this is what breeds
uh blue green algae blooms. and ammonia
levels are are such not ever seen before
in Georgian Bay.
In 2022, the Eastern Georgia Bay
Protective Society attempted to oppose
uh the Township of Georgia Bay site plan
amendment for the sewage works at this
location uh at the Ontario Lanch Rio,
but was kicked out by politically
motivated decision. The township of
Georgia Bay did not defend.
In 2023, the Eastern Georgia Bay
Protective Society began [clears throat]
concent began to see concentrations of
total caulifforms in E.coli in the
surface waters of Honey Harbor not seen
before in over 30 years of sampling and
testing. This continued in 24,25 and 26.
It is thought to be the cumulative
result of anthrop [clears throat]
anthropogenic sources over many years
and the effects of climate change. In
2025, proposed park model development at
Basy Bay was finally abandoned after 10
years of opposition by Gina Marco, the
Eastern Georgia Bay Protector Society
and supported by the Georgian Bay
Association and the Cognitine Cottagers
Association.
This endeavor cost over a million
dollars and there was little help from
the Township of Georgian Bay. In 2025
and 2026,
[clears throat]
the Eastern Georgia Bay Protective Side
may draft applications to the Township
of Georgia Bay for official for an
official plan amendment and zoning bylaw
amendment for protection of nearshore
waters of the Township of Georgia Bay.
Both applications were rejected by
Township of Georgia Bay planning
department saying they were quote akin
to recital to a resolution rather than
policy guidance. We are now asking Alan
Ramsey, a well-known planner, to revise
the wording to planner speak.
Many years ago, I watched a movie called
Cool Hand Luke, which starred Paul Lumin
as Luke. [clears throat]
Just before the prison warden shot Luke,
he said, "What we have here is a failure
to communicate."
Ladies and gentlemen, what we have here
today is a failure to protect the water
in the township of Georgian Bay. It is
you
who need to listen and need to act and
need to protect our most precious
resource.
The Abby water sampling and testing
currently being conducted by the a
dedicated group of citizen volunteers in
the township of Georgia Bay while
interesting does not comply with Ontario
government legislation, regulations,
guidelines, publications and there is no
enforcement possible. What I have
proposed in both the official plan
amendment and the zoning by amendment
contains nothing new. All of its
contents are found in Ontario government
legislation, regulations, guidelines,
and publications. I would be very
pleased to have your support to my
proposal. Thank you.
>> Thank you very much.
>> Questions? Any questions?
>> Will you be sharing that that
documentation with our planning
department? Uh I have a copy here for uh
the clerk and I'll give it to her now.
>> Appreciate that. Thank you very much.
» Does anyone else wish to speak?
>> Your worship. Uh Mr. Bane asked if there
was anybody who would like to ask
questions. Would that be a part of
council discussion?
>> If you if you like at this point, go
ahead. Thank you. And through you,
chair. Uh to Mr. Tom Bane.
There he is. Uh thank you, Mr. Bane over
the years you've been an advocate for
clean water. I've been to many meetings
that you've had and uh you certainly are
a champion towards that. My one question
in your presentation was about live
aboard boats. Um I happen to have a live
aboard boat. I live in the township of
Port Sever and uh upon occasion
everything goes into a holding tank.
Then the holding tank is is um sucked
out by a truck and then it's taken to
the water purification plant and
filtered before discharge. Um,
I think most of the marinas have that
practice. At least I hope they do. But
it's something I think that needs to be
investigated a little bit more. Um,
and uh how the planning department would
deal that would would be a very good
question for me and I will deal with
that with the planning department. But
um something that um definitely needs to
be uh researched and is of importance
then we'll we'll try and make something
happen.
Thank you uh councelor Bochuk. U
[clears throat] there there are two
components uh uh of sewage uh on a
liward boat. There's black water and
there's gray water. Under
[clears throat] current legislation,
black water is required to be retained
as UFA suggested and pumped out at the
marina. And I I think that is quite
effectively being done. Okay. But under
current regulations, gray water, okay,
which is basically uh water from the uh
the shower, uh from the the kitchen
sink, uh from other activities, the BGE
can be dumped into into Georgia Bay
under regulation 343.
and uh uh ba based on uh my current
information that it is being done.
>> Thank you and and through you chair. Uh
I appreciate those comments and um I
believe you're you're right that um the
black water is held in tanks and the
gray water can be released into the
environment.
>> That's right. The can the can the can's
a good word.
>> Yeah, it can be. So um again, thank you
for your comments. I think we can use it
and be quite constructive working
together with our planning department.
Thanks.
>> Thank you, counselor.
>> Appreciate it.
>> Any other questions?
>> Thank you. Thank you for listening.
>> Thank you. There's no doubt there's a
double standard between um I'll call
township regulations and provincial
regulations when it comes to gray water,
but I won't get into my editorial on
that at this point.
Anybody else who wishes to comment? And
I'm again I'm going to remind anybody
online if you wish to comment you'd have
to raise your hand so we can move you
over. But in the meantime in our
audience sir
good morning sir um planners and all. My
name is Bill Walksmith and I'm on island
1900 uh out in Cognine. Um your worship
you mentioned something about a signin
sheet here. I did not see one. Oh,
sorry.
Um, I'm also on the planning committee
of the Cognition Cottages Association
and I'd really like to talk to a couple
of issues here today if I could. And the
one is the importance of the community
plans. And while I re realized from uh
the earlier presentation that there's
still some work to be done on it, but I
think it's very important and I think
council needs to know that those
community plans are there that different
areas within the township have very
different and diverse views. The
diversity is there and we need to make
sure that those plans and the things in
them continue on when the new plan is
developed. And we want to I want to just
emphasize how much it's important that
we keep those community plans in place.
The township is too big of a pl
[clears throat] excuse me too big of a
place for a one-sizefits-all and we
really need to make sure that we get
that diversity there. And the other one
that I wanted to talk briefly about and
while it may not be specific to the
official plan is the issue of compliance
is compliance with the plan. There's a
lot of things happening out there that I
don't think it's necessarily
people's the individual cottages, the
individual property owners. I think
there is some room there for the
township and in the plan to monitor
compliance in particular. I mean, in
fact, the one of the reasons that I got
involved with the planning process was
the fact that there was um an amendment
made and there were conditions put on
that amendment and those conditions
weren't met until until I brought it up
and asked that. So I think it's
important that staff both in the
planning uh building permits by law
enforcement that they become aware of
the conditions that are put when things
happen or the conditions in the uh
official plan and the bylaws and that
they be followed on a regular basis and
not left up as a complaint uh situation.
So those are really the two things is I
think we need to have more compliance
and I think we really need to keep the
community plans in place. Thank you very
much.
>> Just just for your interest last week uh
I was with CO Mariotti at the um
Association of Municipalities Ontario
annual conference and and we made a
presentation to the ministry about the
importance of community plans. They just
have one they their whole format just
says waterfront full stop and we're
saying yeah well we need subsets within
that and we got a favorable reception
doesn't mean that they're going to
respond the way we want but yes we we
understand very well that the the
differences in our waterfronts depending
upon where you are in the township.
>> Yes. And it's just I don't believe a
one-sizefits-all and I think the
community plans have worked very well in
the past and hope that they will be able
to be somehow be worked into the new
official plan. Thank you.
>> And I'd also like to thank the staff
that they've been very helpful whenever
I've been trying to uh bring forward
some issues. Thank you.
>> Well, thanks for that, too.
>> Yes.
Thank you to the mayor. Bill, I just uh
it's great to see you here. Thank you
for being here. Um I I know that there
will be a reach out from the planning
department to cottage associations and
other associations,
lake associations, etc. And I'm doing I
hoping that you and other members of the
CCA planning group uh plan on
participating in and providing input uh
when that is requested from the planning
department.
>> I'm sure they are and I suspect that
there's other members of the planning
committee that are probably watching me
saying thank you going for going first
bill.
>> Anyway, it's great to see you.
>> Thank you,
>> Director Whit.
Thank you your worship. And if I may f
Thanks, Bill. Um um further to Mr.
Watsmouth's comments, you know, this official plan which is the
fundamental guiding document for land
use in the municipality, it affects land
use, it affects economic development,
protection of natural features,
protection of those sacred places that
the bear the mayor mentioned. Um and the
current official plan has been in effect
since 2014.
Um and uh it was our intent when we
embarked on this process um to take that
official plan which we think has been
working well and it was developed with
much consultation with the communities
um you know to improve upon it. We've
been driving this car for 12 years now
called the official plan and we wanted
to tune it up. Um and then the province
uh brought in Bill 98 which uh we're working proactively to conform to
Bill 98 and the standard that the
province has now set for official plans.
So um as part of that process and the
mayor mentioned the deputation um to the ministry municipal affairs, we
definitely want to preserve those um
community plans. Um I'm also super
thrilled with the feedback that I'm
hearing so far. As Jeff mentioned, this
is our first opportunity to go formally
to the public um to really cast a really
broad net to say, "Okay, um we as staff
um with the help of council have
identified what we think are topics that
are important for the community and that
um we should be looking at. But this is
the opportunity to hear from you the
public to understand are there other
topics that we need to look at that we
haven't captured yet or drill down into
the topics we have identified as some of
you have already spoken to. So, um,
thanks for that. And, um, what will come
of this is, uh, a better official plan,
um, that better addresses these
important land use issues and hopefully
captures as much as we possibly can, um,
the concerns that everyone's identified.
As, as some of you have already pointed
out, there are different levels of
government, there are different
jurisdictions, right? and and uh we have
certain powers and we're certainly going
to try to work we will work within the
powers that we have. Um but we will also
work with other levels of government
where we can to also bring about change
that the community is seeking. So I just
wanted to give that little bit of
context about what an official plan is
um how we got here and why we're here
today. So keep the feedback coming and
thank you for the time Mr. Mayor.
>> Well I'm only going to add one extra
thing and that's you said this is the
opportunity to bring this up. No, this
is the first opportunity because and I
strongly encourage anybody here or who's
watching or who may watch later. If you
if there's things that you think are
very important to consider, please send
a note or contact Mr. Kraki um and uh or
anybody else in the planning department
or on council. Doesn't matter who you contact initially. Um I say this is
opening the door. Uh when the meeting's
over, the door is still open.
All right. next.
Go ahead, please.
There we go. [laughter] There's a red
light. Does that mean we stop or start?
>> Okay, [laughter]
I'll try to stop and start quickly. Um,
good morning, Mayor Coocher and
counselors and staff and and interested
citizens. My name is Naomi Emmed. I'm a
permanent resident of Gloucester Pool um
involved
member of the community and um I'm here
really just
to to learn from the beginning. I I
apologize I haven't read the anything
that was online other than the
announcement of this meeting. Um but the
two and the the points that you went
through uh quickly and I appreciate
that. Um all of them seemed important.
Um but I was particularly interested in
housing and whether there was any um and
that's fleshed out in in your planning
if there's a specific reference to
affordable housing.
um
something that I is near and dear to my
heart. Um and the other one was the uh
addressing of the port severed
community. So is it I'm really asking
two questions more than I'm
um
yeah I'm asking those two questions.
>> Mr. Cracky
>> with your permission Mr.
Um
the brief answer with respect to housing
and especially affordable housing is
that is I would say one of the areas in
which our current official plan can be
improved. And so a normal review I think
would have addressed those matters. Um
but now we're also going to be looking
at relocating some of those policies.
But no, that is we do not yet have a
start. on a preliminary basis. That may
be one of the locations in our official
plan um in which we may seek um
additional assistance from an expert,
but that's to be determined. I think we
want to start the discussion with the
community before we decide that we need
assistance. I think your second question
is much the same as the last uh person
speaking with respect to this notion of
secondary plans. And while the province
at AMO and on the environmental registry
has demonstrated their understanding
that this is an important matter not
just to Georgian Bay Township but to
many municipalities.
They haven't yet given us any indication
as to how they may address it. What I
will say is the good news is that they
have left
those parts of the um planning act
amendments that were made by Bill 98 in
a gray if you look on EAWS. And what
that traditionally means is that they
are going to address something through
regulation. And again, in the
environmental registry posting that's in
my report, you can click on that and go
directly to that posting on the
environmental registry. They do describe
the issue and I think they've heard us
as planners, people, councils. I think
we're all just kept in suspense um until
perhaps the house returns in November.
So just to clarify um what I was
addressing is the uh longstanding
um
initiative. I think it b dates back to
the mid 1990s
uh when the Brazette house was moved to
um its present location and uh the the
barn and then the comm community the
community services building was built
and the new township office. And during
all of that, there was an initiative to
create a a more identifiable port
severing center um with connecting
pathways and um so that it presented
more as a unified community and there's
been a lot of efforts on the part of the
historical society and and Sig Bay and
um you know local port people, but it's
never
complete been completed. So that was the
bullet that I was particularly
interested in.
>> So most recently that has been included
through our official plan as what's
called the port 7 um
urban design guidelines and village
center plan essentially. I can't recall
the exact title. Um, but you're correct.
There's only really been the government
investments so far with respect to the
preset house, this building, the
library, um, the bridge, the park, uh,
some street lighting, and some portions
of sidewalks. And that's so Oh, and the
boulevard on Lone Pine Road, uh, with
the, uh, flowers and trees, etc.
But thus far that has been the extent of
the implementation. We do now have
before uh council and with staff a
proposed development that would be the
first um as was mentioned by the
consultant working for the developer to
begin to implement that. The way the
province wrote on the environmental
registry is that they they don't agree
with the current approach of our
official plan and the way those um
policies are being uh provided.
And what they've written on the
environmental registry essentially is
that we would have a secondary planning
document that would include those
policies as opposed to a guideline and
then policies in the official plan. But
they haven't actually provided any
further discussion other than just
saying this is where we may go. Um, so
we do not know that that is where they
are going to go and they may go nowhere.
We really simply do not know. My hope is
that when Parliament when the House at
Queens Park returns uh that we will very
quickly be given some draft regulations
to see and get a better understanding as
to where the Ontario government will go.
But rest assured, I think planning staff
can say with great certainty that we
appreciate how important these
um additional refinements to our
official plan are not only for people in
Port Sever, but to people in the
waterfront communities on Georgia Bay,
to people in the waterfront communities
community around six mile lake. And
I don't want to go to a place yet where
we have to look at how do we how do we
make this fit the structure we've been
given so far because I'm hopeful that
something is still to come. But we will
as staff explore whatever we need to
explore to make sure that those policies
come forward are reviewed are updated.
So again, I think one of the topics is
that Port 7 village center and I think
it was great to hear from from uh MHPC
representing the developer of one of
those lands. Um, it's great to hear from
you and I hope we can bring everyone
together throughout this process to
discuss that in a way that will truly
achieve what what this community has for
so long hoped would be achieved for the
Port Sever Village Center.
>> Well, please keep us posted on how we
can help.
>> Well, again, um, send me a quick email
just saying you want to help and be
involved and I'll I'll keep you
involved. You will get the email this
afternoon, sir.
>> Great. Okay. Um, thank you,
>> Director Whit. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Yeah,
further to what what Jeff said that that
master plan, those urban design
guidelines that sounds like you were
very much involved in um or or or
followed are are very much something
that from our standpoint so far, um, we
have every intention of keeping. We
certainly want to look at them to ensure
that the policies are still current and if there's anything that needs
updating or improving, that that's
great. But um um Jeff mentioned, you
know, there's sort of two components to
seeing these things come to realization.
There's those elements that are within
the the public realm, the government
realm, road improvements and and
initiatives like some, you know, the
work that's been done with the Brassette
House, etc. Um and then there's the
responsibility that we as as planners
and and by extension council have in
seeing that as private sector
development proposals come forward um
ensuring that those development
proposals align with that master plan
process to see that vision realized.
Right? So we're we're um everything
we're seeing and hearing so far tells us
that the community will want to keep um
those policies and keep that vision. If
we hear differently through this
process, we'll adjust. But um so far I
think um that's a track we want to
maintain.
>> I would further add just as an oldtimer
in the area. If you go past the car wash
in Fort Sein, you'll notice the facade
on the building. The facade on the
building was created all those years ago
because of the fact that we were
anticipating this this village uh being
constructed in
>> patience is virtue. I suppose.
>> Thank you,
>> Councelor Bochek.
>> Thank Thank you and through you, Mayor.
Um, thanks for coming in, uh, Miss EMTT,
this morning. Um, one of the questions
that you asked that perhaps, um, the
planners in the township didn't answer
or couldn't answer is affordable
housing. You asked about affordable
housing. Affordable housing has been
being uh, handled by the district of
Msoka for the most part. and um not only
affordable housing but um transitional
housing and subsidized housing. But the
most important part is for development
where development belongs.
They've located a couple of locations
within the township that could be uh a
place where affordable housing um would
land, but I can assure you it would not
have anything to do with the waterfront, properties, anything such as
that. um the locations will be where
affordable housing should be. So that's
something that's ongoing at the district
of Mskoka. I doubt it'll be solved this
term, but it's been an ongoing
discussion for quite some time at
district.
>> My greatest concern is the fact that we
are losing people from our community,
people that have are from families that
have been here for generations and we're
losing them because we can't we can't
properly accommodate them. Sure, I
understand that. And um our planning
department can uh work with you. There
has been a lot of changes where you can
have second residence uh in your home.
You can apply for a second residence.
And not only that, but if your
property's big enough, then you could be able to put a second
residence on that property with a
separate septic system as well. So, um I
suggest you reach out to the planning
department, get the details on that as
well, too. that's in the planning
stages. So, it it may help out with
>> Just to be clear, I'm not looking at
this for me. I'm I work at the food bank
and there are a number of clients who
come and they're being evicted from
their from their homes and they can't
stay here because there's no place for
them to live.
>> Sure. Absolutely.
>> That's that's more my particular
concern. Although, I do appreciate the
fact that there is that second residence
opportunity too, which I think is is
helpful.
>> Anyway, thank you for your time.
>> Thank you, Councelor Grociano.
Thank you and to you, Mayor. Um, Miss
EMTT brings a valid point to the table
given that we are effectively reviewing
our social plan and uh undergoing a a
review and exercise of this um and given
the mandate and and the focus and
attention that affordable housing has
had not only proincially uh at the
district level uh as well as uh within
our council. Uh a question to our our
planning team. Is there a way to codify
future development requirements? Can we
as a municipality uh when a developer
comes to our uh council requesting
development uh uh rights and and the
ability to develop, can we ask them or
mandate them to have a minimum of 10% of
their development allocated to you know
uh affordable housing based on uh you
know maybe some of the larger urban area
definitions such as um 10% lower than uh
retail andor current market value. So,
is there a way that we can kind of
codify this uh into our uh our official
plan and uh to ensure that uh future
developers can and will develop
affordable housing as they develop. The
[snorts] other piece of this is um I
want to thank everyone who's brought
forward uh you know their their concerns
with regards to the environmental
impacts and and the ability for us to
tighten things up on the environmental
side. Uh for as many of you know, I'm very uh very concerned with the
water quality within our municipality
and want to maintain and preserve and uh
if if can uh make our water better. Uh,
and if there's ways that we can
collectively here as council support
that um that mandate, uh, I'd very much
be interested in in hearing more about
what our planning department and our
planning team can do to ensure that uh,
as we kind of review and amend and
update uh, that we make things much more
stronger in that uh, in that uh, respect
as well. So overdoor planning with
regards to the ability to mandate a
developer in future developments to
include a percentage of their
development uh as low-income housing. Is
it possible? Thank you.
>> So my quick answer right now is is it
possible today? No. Uh our current
official plan
has very sparse housing policies and it
that is why it's one of the identified
preliminary issues. uh the answer as to
where we go. I think this is really too
early to give, but certainly uh
councelor Graciano's and other comments
here today are going to be a part of the
record. And again, we're hoping to have
working groups focused on those topical
areas and people who indicate interest
in an area might be invited to join a
working group. Um because yes, we we do
very much want to improve our official
plan in those topical areas that we've
identified
and that includes the environment.
>> Thank you. Um Director Whit,
>> thank you Mr. Mayor and and further to
that that point and thank you councelor
Gratziano. Um I I think what you might
be touching on is the notion of what in
planning terms is referred to as
inclusionary zoning. That's something as
Jeff mentioned we don't have in our
official plan now and that's where
municipalities uh can prescribe you know
a certain percentage 5% for example
affordable housing in a development um
we could you know you you can really
drill down into this um and and much um is talked about in terms of what what
how is affordable housing defined right
what price point what what um um format
of housing or or ownership etc so those
are all things we're happy to
investigate through this process It's
not the first time we've heard that
comment already. Um and it's certainly
important as we've heard um you know to
provide housing options for people um
starting out in this community. Um also
for people who have been in this
community a long time and want to remain
in the community and age in place as
they say. So appreciate the comment and
it's something we're definitely going to
look into.
>> We have some work to do but thank you
very much.
back to our audience.
Please come forward.
Good morning. Uh Don Connor, 109
Hillside Drive. I was wondering if
there's anything in the development uh
program to deal with the vacant lots
that are on Hillside Drive, which I
think was supposed to be called phase
two or something.
Thank you. Um through the mayor. Um so
the the current policy framework um
probably for that area won't change.
It's designated residential. All the
policies are there to allow for that
development um to fully realize itself.
Um if [clears throat] if you're if I may
ask if are you one of the land owners on
Hillside Drive? Um okay. So the township
has reached out to the owners of all
those properties in phase 2 and with um
a proposal um providing options um for
land owners to either participate in a
process to see the completion of phase 2
and the intent would be to see phase 2
completed just as phase one is um open
ditches um individual well septic etc.
Um and the township is also in in that
outreach afforded um uh the opportunity
for people who may be interested in
selling their lots um to the township.
Um we would also consider that as well.
So it's very current. It's very active
right now. We're looking to essentially
step in um as the municipality and work
with the land owners um of those lots to
see phase 2 completed and and to the
same standard that phase one is.
>> Okay. And just a follow-up question, if
the municipality buys them, what would
be their intention to do with it?
>> So, it would certain just allow the
municipality to um control those lots
and see them ultimately develop. We
don't we don't wish to become a
developer. We don't wish to put
municipal facilities on them. The the
intent would be for those um just to
provide an option for those land owners
who want out and and don't want to
participate um financially in seeing
phase 2 completed, then the then the
township would consider um stepping in
and ultimately seeing those lots um back
on the market. But in the interim, the
township may acquire them. Um this is
all subject to budgets, etc. Um but the
formal reach out in writing has been
made to all the land owners. Okay. Thank
you.
>> Thank you.
» Sure. Please come on forward.
» Uh good morning mayor and council and
residents of uh Georgian Bay Township.
My name is Monica Bovette. I'm a public
health nurse with the Senoma Muscoa
District Health Unit. I live at 62 here
on woods in Oro Madante, but I've been
working in the township of Georgian Bay
with u members of staff with uh
community groups uh for the past three
years. So in my role, I work with um mo
yearround residents and those uh people
uh living in poverty or living in the
lower income brackets in the region. And
the way that the health unit involves
itself with municipalities across Mskoka
is that we ask for the opportunity to
apply our to our assessment tools with
the um proposals, the changes in the uh
official plan and also the existing
official plan for look for opportunities
to comment on where healthy public
policy intersects with planning policy
and also the human health impacts of um
decisions related to economic
development um environmental pressures
and um the livability of the spaces. So
I specifically in my role with community
groups focus on the increasing
um inability of residents to be able to
own a personal vehicle or have access to
a personal vehicle. So looking for
opportunities to make the community um
accessible for those and for younger um
teens again as um Miss EMTT mentioned
about um having people stay in the
community. So having opportunities for
within those families when youth become
at an eligible age that they can work um
that they have local work available and
they can get to that job safely uh
without maybe access to a vehicle. The
second area I focus on is food access.
also in relation to planning looking at
where and this will probably come in the
site plans and it's it's I have read
bill 98 it's still unclear when we look
at food systems and agricultural um
commenting where people would be able to
grow food where they're able to sell
food and where they're able to buy food
and then also looking in relation to
housing um the idea that was brought forth by the planner earlier
looking for mixed use residential, how
to overlap maybe commercial enterprise
with um residential units. So mix zoning
um and in the translation of the bylaws
looking at those opportunities
um for some creative ways to help feed
and house people that um in all honesty
a lot of the time are invisible because
of the focus on um all of the wonderful
things that Georgian Bay has to offer uh
the affluent uh portions of our
communities. So I just wanted to raise
that um we do and my question would be
when or where would there be
opportunities for myself and uh other
members of the health unit because I do
have support both from our environmental
health division and um from our um our
other our um healthy growth and
development uh specialists as well. So,
I'm just wondering where there might be
an opportunity for comment and then also
receiving a report from the health unit
when we've had an opportunity to do kind
of a line by line review of um any
documents that the township's producing.
>> So, again, I I very much appreciate
that. Um and hopefully you will be
interested in participating as much as
we can make you um uh rely upon you. We
are very interested in this part. This
is one of the topics that we've
identified and and I would say that my
name is Jeff Katr. My email address is
in the notice.
>> Okay. But there's also a business card
at the front on the on your way out and
please just send me a quick email of
offering to participate in a working
group and uh we're putting together
lists.
>> Okay. And yeah, as I said, it's um I
have those two focus areas. It's a
little bit um difficult for me sometimes
to do some of the translation of where I
would best fit. So, that's kind of why
I've described my scope of practice and
then hoping that you can help me
navigate some of that uh planning
language and um we could talk about
where I might might best be able to give
that feedback.
>> Well, again, we haven't yet identified
health as an issue.
>> Okay.
>> But maybe it is.
>> Uh yes, it I would like [laughter] to
say it definitely is. um because we're
you know again I understand and I think
it's very important the um the emphasis
on environmental health but it's really
you know environmental health is linked
to human health and uh humans are
causing the the environmental problems
so I think also looking at you know
developing in a environmentally
responsible way but also a way that um
has both physical and mental al health
um benefits rather than is uh is
detrimental to the humans that make up
our places.
>> Well, and again very quickly, I think my
answer to you would be there's a couple
of topics already that exist. One
obviously housing. um the other uh
perhaps uh both the Port Sever and and
McTar uh urban areas, but it won't be up
to planning staff to decide to adjust
the topics, but it will be my
responsibility to bring a report to
council sometime soon uh with what we
heard today and suggestions. And again,
I very much appreciate your input and
very much hope you do send me an email
so that I can enlist you in
opportunities to participate.
>> No problem. Thank you very much for the
opportunity. Thank you, Mary.
>> If I can take this opportunity to ask
that you and anybody else who hasn't did
not sign the list, please do so.
>> Sure.
>> That way, uh, our clerk will be feeling
a little better that she's got
everything under control.
>> Okay. [sighs] Thank you so much.
>> Thank you very much. Um,
councelor Bochek,
thank you and through your mayor. Um,
and thank you Monica for the
presentation. Very informative. Um, I
would like you to send me as well uh the
first part um of your presentation to do
with uh health health care that you do
between uh Moonstone or Simco County and
Township of Georgian Bay. just give me a
better idea of of what you do and what
the issues are that you find. Um I
happen to sit on the on the health
committee um health services committee
at the district of mscoa which is where
we talk about these things
and then if there's something of merit
or something we can do we bring it up at
the second tier level um and present it
to council. So um we do have a member of
our council that sits on the simple
mscoa health unit
um Sandy Karens which I will speak to her
as well too. But uh once you give me
that information just a short uh a note
I will take it to the health services
committee see if I can escalate it up to
the council kind of at the end of this
term of council. There's only a couple
months left. So, um,
working on this and getting it to the
stage where it goes in front of council
maybe in the next term, but we'll start
the ball rolling and then district can
come back to our planning department and
inform them if there's any needs they
need from the township to to carry
forward. So, I think we have a pretty
good uh look at it.
>> Sure. Maybe I can just comment that I've
already um submitted comments to the uh
through the health unit um for the
district's official plan and the
district's uh transportation master
plan.
>> Excellent. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Um
anyone else,
» Mr. Kasakus?
Good morning, council. My name is Artha
Kstacos. I'm a property owner on
Hillside Drive. Um, Hillside phase 2 is
of interest to me, but uh my property um
my eastern border abuts the Port Severn
Heights development.
um
that was supposed to include a mix of
housing which I think would have
included some definition of affordable
housing.
It's 15 years old or or more. Uh my
question
>> sorry
>> 20 years old. Um,
>> yep. When I ask people, particularly in
the township, uh, official capacities,
why is there no development there in 20
years? They smile and laugh.
And I'm wondering how come we have an
approved
um
area for I think it was 375
multi-
uh dwelling complex of some kind. But
all
>> your honor, I'm going to have to declare
a conflict of interest.
>> Thank you.
>> So my my question is
why do we have one huge property that's
been approved for so long? And I give
one context. At one point the property
was clearcut and I approached uh well
councelor Bochek at the time and I asked
him well what's going on there and he
didn't know and he approached council
and everyone had forgotten that they had
received approval to do that six years
prior and they were doing something that
they were approved to do but it had been
so long nobody could remember that they
actually had permission to do so.
>> Um the I I can give you a partial
answer. One is it's privately owned and
there's only so much we can do with a
developer who owns a property and
doesn't do anything with it. And two,
it's actually in front of district
council staff right now.
>> Okay. So, that would be it is how how
can something that's so in it's it's
close. It's right next to where it needs
to be. It has a commercial front end. I
believe it started with a a golf course
at the top which would have shared a
border with my property. Um,
how can we get that project through this
process uh to the next phase? How do we
get it going?
>> One one of the things that we've learned
the hard way, we mean municipalities
writ large, not just ours, is that when
we give planning approvals now, we put
deadlines on them. They never used to do
that. And uh in this particular project,
uh the the approvals are being I I
believe will end up being updated with a
deadline.
>> Great. Thank you very much.
Anyone else?
» Oh, sorry. One minute.
>> Okay.
Go ahead, please.
>> Okay. Um, good morning to the mayor, the
clerk, counselors, planning staff, and
the audience. Um, I'd firstly like to
thank you guys for inviting Woxing First
Nation um, to engage on this official
plan. Um, all in all, we'd like to
understand how indigenous communities,
including with socks and first nation,
will be directly involved in developing
the indigenous engagement chapter and
other policies that will affect our
rights, lands, waters, and um, interests
throughout the review. Um, I have a few
questions. I have a lot of questions,
but um, I'll talk to Mr. Kraki after the
meeting about my other questions, so I'm
not here all day. Um but my first
question that I'm proposing on behalf of
Woxing would be um which indigenous
communities has the township identified
for the direct engagement of the
official planner view and how were those
determinations made?
» So thank you for that question. Um, the
District of Muskoka has what's referred
to as Malt, which is a a relationship
that's been developed over I'm going to
say a decade or so with a number of
>> seven years.
>> Okay.
>> Seven and a half years,
>> almost a decade. Um, with a number of uh
First Nations um as well as the Mi
Nation of Ontario. Um,
your First Nation has indicated
previously interest and I uncertain why
you have not yet, I believe, been
invited to that table. Um, but certainly
the Township of Georgian Bay responds to
all indigenous communities that may be
interested in our official plan and
we're not going to limit limit it by any
stretch of the imagination.
So far we've done direct outreach um to
the Boseley First Nation uh to the um
Kiran Wend
to the Matei Nation to Mustier Point to
Rama to Shanaga to Wata and to yourself.
But again that was um based upon the
interest that we had previously received
from you in matters in Georgian Bay
Township. Um, and again, if there's a a
first if there's a First Nation or an
indigenous community that's been left
off of our list, if they're watching,
listening, um, we would be very happy to
include them as well.
>> Yeah, I was going to follow up. If um,
we did have nations to suggest, is that
something that we could suggest and you
guys could follow up with?
>> Yes.
>> Perfect. Um, apologies. I also forgot to
introduce myself as much as I practice
what to say before I came up here. But
um my name is Lily Edmonds and I'm the
community consultation coordinator with
Woxing First Nation. Um I will propose
another question. Um, I wanted to know
if the township was considering
identifying and recognizing within the
official plan the indigenous communities
um of which traditional territories,
treaty rights, and ongoing relations
extend to the lands and waters covered
by the plan.
>> So again, if you can help me with that,
much appreciated. Again, we want to be
as inclusive as we can be. Um the list
so far is by no way the end necessarily.
It's the starting point.
>> Perfect. I apologize if some of my
questions are more preliminary. Um I'll
propose um one last question. Um because
the notice says that the submissions
become part of the public record. um
what processes will protect confidential
indigenous knowledge, culturally sensitive information and um
information concerning significant sites
that indigenous communities may provide.
>> That too is an excellent question and I
do not have a quick answer for you. Um
and I would greatly appreciate um some
time to consider it and get back to you
by email.
>> Of course. Apologies again if the
questions are very preliminary. No, your
questions are excellent and I very much
appreciate them. I think there's one
answer that I didn't give you and that
is again
we are going to rely upon indigenous
communities as much as they are willing
to participate to help us to learn not
only about each community but also to
learn much more about how we can engage
you because I think the difference
between what we're being asked to do in
this new official plan versus what we've
done in the past is that in the past
you've received public notice after public notice
frequently with very very short time
frames for a response and you receive
those not just from our municipality I'm
sure you receive them from many
>> definitely a
>> and so what we're I think being asked to
do by our council and by the province is
to find a better way to engage the
indigenous communities
And do I know what that better way is?
Absolutely not. No idea. Looking forward
to talking about it with as many people
as we can discuss it. Um and again, it's
going to be crucial that that it works
for each indigenous community. So, does
it have to be one way? No, I don't think
so. So if one indigenous community needs
engagement through one method and
another needs it through another method,
I don't see that as an issue.
>> Perfect. I appreciate your honesty and
transparency. Um and so appreciates
being engaged in this meeting and having
the opportunity to contribute to this
review. And um I'll last you with more
questions after this meeting.
>> Great.
>> Thank you everyone.
>> Thank you very much. Appreciate you
coming. Anyone
else?
And nobody online has raised their hand.
And I'm going to yet again to all those
viewing online that signed up, if you
want to say anything, please raise your
hand or do something to indicate to us
that uh you want to be moved over. Um,
all right.
Should I do that going once, going twice
thing? But the good news is if you don't
speak now, you're more than welcome to
speak later. And councelor Boche, did
you want to add something?
>> Yes. Um, thank you. and through your worship. Um, a couple of questions
to our planning department just for
clarity on topics that have been brought
up here today and some that you uh
referred to in the beginning of your
report. Port Southern Town Center, um,
that's kind of a hard one because Port
Sver, my Port Severign is Tay Township,
Sever Township, and Georgia Bay
Township. That's my Port Sever. Um, and
I'm wondering if we're going to be
reaching out to those other two
townships to see if there's some sort of
relationship we can spawn on on
bettering uh the village of Port Severn
inclusively with those other townships.
So, that's something I'd like you to
follow if you could. We talked earlier
about the u the water levels and the
flooding and how that pertains to the
planning department. Um that's a hard
one. Um between the MSCOA wershed, the
integrated watershed and SSEA, they look
at those trends. And I don't know a lot
of people know that Georgian Bay has a
17 foot swing. In other words, it can
rise and fall that far depending on
winds and that type of thing. So that
needs to be uh looked at very very
closely. And my last point, um,
our premier, Mr. Ford, said, "Build more
homes faster."
My question to you is where it's
applicable.
Why aren't we or why can't we reduce the
amount of restrictions and bylaws put
into place? I mean, we're looking at
adding bylaws here and making bylaws to
better our township.
um can we can we look at reducing some
of the restrictions in the planning
department so um housing can be built in
land in in the proper locations um I
think it's very important and I think
our rules are far too strong um and we
need to soften them or reook at them and find out better ways that we can
help people develop inland and that's
just my comments and I have the
fortunate
ability to walk into your office and
talk to you about it. So, we will take
this up um together. I don't think we
need to delve too far into it unless you
have something you want to add.
>> No, I was just going to say that my
answer would be yes, yes, and yes. All
of those are important matters. Um and
they are definitely within the topics
that we've identified so far for this
review and update. Where we will end up,
I cannot begin to imagine yet.
Thank you. Um, does any other counselor
wish to add any remarks at this point?
I mean, this will be an ongoing process
that we all understand, but uh,
member or councelor Jarvis.
>> Yes, you may. Um,
yeah, I just want to bring something to
Plan's attention. I think it's probably
already on the list of things, but um in
my mind, words matter and words are
extremely important when it comes to
planning. Um words such as shall and
shall not have specific um meanings
within the planning documents. And at
times um uh over my time on council I
found significant conflict between words
that are in the planning document and then how they are
interpreted in um planning applications
and approvals which can be a little
distracting at times. Um, I I realize
that bill 98 is going to complicate
things with regards to how we word our
documentation,
but within our planning section A2.2.6
is a very uh concerning statement um
that I would really like us to try and
um address within the
review as it comes forward. Um and that
do that specific the paragraph within
2.2.6
fundamentally and and Bill you may be
aware of this you may not it it tends to
remove the uh necessity to address the
words within the planning document
itself. So shall and shall not all of a
sudden become moot when you read that
paragraph or in my mind it does. And I
think we need to address that and any
other sections that um reduce
uh the intent of uh of what we've got
going on in planning.
So, I think I'm going to say that the
terms of reference that council has
given us for this official plan review,
which will also be carried forward into
the zoning bylaw review because it was
originally intended, of course, to
happen as one, but we can't do that now
because we're doing a new official plan.
But the intention was to always ensure
uh the integration of those documents.
And I think I I I I understand the
problem you've highlighted to really be
more about the lack of integration
oftent times between our official plan
and our zoning bylaw. We have some
really interesting anomalies. Um we've
talked about Port Southern Village
Center a lot today. We have a village
center plan that identifies it very
clearly as to what it's supposed to be.
Yet then we have designations within the
schedule of our official plan dealing
with the port 7 urban area which do not
follow through with that plan. And then
worse yet, we have zones
on land which again do not implement
what was planned by this council and
previous councils. And I think that one
of the key things we will be doing that
isn't a topic because it's an
overarching term of reference is making
sure at the end of the day that yes,
language does matter.
But I would also say as a planner my
bias is that we not try and have few
zoning bylaws. I think the official plan
needs to lead the zoning bylaw with
policies
and those policies then implement
through the zoning bylaw, which is where
you would typically use shall [snorts]
or shall not. And so I think what is
really good about this new framework is
it's going to force us and every
municipality to be very careful in how
we structure our official plan. And part
of this notion of streamlining the
process that comes from the federal
government and provincial government
through Bill 98 is that if a developer
is going to any municipality in this
country,
they will essentially be able to very
quickly appreciate what that
municipality wants because they don't
have to figure out where it is. There's
going to be one location for it. Um, so
again, my hope is that we can address
your concern not entirely through the
official plan, but ultimately at the end
of the day when we have an official plan
and a zoning bylaw through the second
part of this review um that work
together to do what the policies plan to
do.
Um, for the benefit of our audience and
your mayor, 2.2.6, was that the
paragraph you were concerned about?
>> Very specifically, yes.
>> And And what was that? And what is that
the topic of 2.2.6?
>> Let me pull it up for you if I can find
it. I have it.
>> Do I still have it?
>> Through the through the mayor while
we're waiting. the policy um that that
councelor Jarvis is referring to is
really that one that that speaks to
allowing flexibility, you know, in terms
of numbers and policy and and that
numbers aren't necessarily absolute and
um and u you know to Mr. Kraky's point
um policy is intended to be just that.
So there's typically a built-in element
of flex flexibility
um but there can be absolutes in policy.
Um the provincial policy statement which
is the overarching guiding document for
planning in Ontario has a few elements
in it that are absolute shall must and
that's just the way it is. So I think we
need to be judicious when we do this but
if there's a desire from council and
from the community to see certain things
that are absolute that are very
important um for the long-term
development of this community we can
certainly look at that.
>> Thank you. And mayor, you can see it's
on the screen now.
>> Yeah, I see that. Thank you. Appreciate
that. Um, councelor Cooper.
» Thank you, Mayor. Um, I'm just really
inquiring. Have you opened up this the
section of this meeting where the
counselors speak because I've heard from
councelor Bochek and counselor Jarvis.
Um, do you want us to launch right into
our um
>> That's why I've rec that's why I've
recognized you.
>> Okay. So, we've moved on to that section
of the meeting. I didn't realize that it
was sort of a very smooth transition.
>> Yes, we were very smooth.
>> Congratulations on that front. Um, if I
could just uh I do have a few points and
uh one of it one of them actually aligns
with council Jarvis in terms of
uh the use of verbiage uh in our op um
but the started wanted to start with
sort of at 10,000 ft um and remind us
and and think about having things
included in the official plan that
reflect some of the other things that
we've talked about at at the township
and believe in things like our strategic
plan.
Priority number one, the environment.
Those words should be the strategic plan
and the environment being number one
should be in the official plan. It's a direction and uh I would ask that
some consideration by our planners be
given to that. If it's already in there,
great. Let's make sure it's still in
there in the future. Um uh there are a
few others that are like that. Our
township has an area that's most of a
good part of it is in the UNESCO
designated Georgia Bay biosphere. That's
a very important thing that it was
established and it it sets the tone for
what we do here. So I ask that uh there
be mention of some of these things that
are in our township. The other thing I
think is equally important is the the
species corridor that the GBLT pulled
together with the township's cooperation
and was able to take all the road
allowances over and create a huge area
for species corridors and wetland
protection. That's another thing that
it's a descriptor of who and what we
are. There's others other things. So I'm
going to just continue to read through
my somewhat long list. is not too long.
But uh uh I think the other thing we
need to acknowledge is that the the
character of our area enables residents
to join enjoy a semi-w wilderness
experience. And I'm stressing that term
semi-w wilderness experience. And
frankly, when you look at some of the
other cottage areas,
it's not exactly the same thing. They're
not really semi-w wilderness. are more
urban in nature. Cheek by jao, one
property after another after another.
Nothing wrong with that, but it's more
urban in nature. And I think we need to
remember that the township of Georgian
Bay uh in in terms of uh one of the few
municipalities in central and southern
Ontario that has that very clear semi-w
wilderness experience. And I think that
should be included in our official plan
as a descriptor. Um there's a few other
things here, mayor, if I could just uh
cover off a few other little issues. Um
>> uh I I realize that uh we have um you
know exceptions in our rulings and ru
and rules around lot size. Um but a lot
of the numericics are mischaracterized
as guidelines when in fact they uh
should be really numeric that are
thresholds. The more thresholds that we
can include
uh will help us not
ruin our semi-w wilderness experience.
And so that's another thing that we need
to continue continue to sort of pay
attention to is more thresholds and not
flexible guidelines. The word and
flexible policies which was mentioned
recently I think it's uh important for
us to remember we have thresholds we
need to establish more thresholds and uh
think about that. Um, we also uh
we don't really want to see
overdevelopment of our waterfront areas
and and it's not an anexrable right.
It's a choice and we have a we can make
that choice. This is what we want to do
and so uh most of our citizens at least
are feel very strongly about that.
doesn't mean that the urban areas would
apply apply in that uh sort of under
those considerations but but the rural
areas do and should. So choice versus
inexurable rights. The final thing I
wanted to uh talk about and I guess this
would be more in the bylaws as opposed
to the official plan. Although some
lawyers, planning lawyers say that if
you put it in the official plan and in
your bylaws, it's a belt and suspenders.
And that's not a bad thing because it
sort of forces um things to be very
clear. So here's one of the guidelines
that I'd like to see with respect to
minor variances and that is that we hear
that you can't put percentages on
things. I suggest that we could. I
suggest that we could have specific
numeric for example
um and I'm happy to send this list to
you but uh from 0 to 500 feet maybe you
can have up to 25% increase because
smaller structures could have a bigger
percentage. I I get that but let's say
at 500 to 1500 square ft you you get no
more than a 15% increase over 1500% or
1500 square feet you get up to 10%
increase. something along those lines.
That way we could control and make sure
that we continue with our u wilderness
experience and uh protect the
environment. So those are a whole lot of
words and I'm happy to share this in an
email, but uh if you did capture it and agree or disagree, I'd like to hear
at least uh what your thoughts are uh
Jeff and Derek on the points that I've
made. Thank you.
three crack.
>> Thank you. Um, councelor Cooper, you've
raised a lot of interesting points and certainly I'm not going to address
all of them now because again this is
the start. U what I will say is my
comment with respect to the official
plan not duplicating the zoning bylaw
was not intended to suggest that there
should not be a policy basis
for everything that is in the zoning
bylaw. there should and I think we've
also got that situation here in our in
our municipality where sometimes we have
things in the zoning bylaw that don't
have a policy basis. I think my comment
is and again I think Derek wisely said
that sometimes in an official plan you
do use the word shall and and sometimes
thresholds are important. Um, but I
think uh [clears throat] what we will
always keep in mind as we advise council
and deal with the public and the working
groups through this process is what we
can and what we cannot do given that the
municipality is a creature of the
province and given given that the
official plan is a document under the
planning act and and I look forward to
learning more from you as to your your
comments with respect to percentage
limitations. ations because as a planner
I'm only aware of the opportunity to do
so through what was called uh uh
development permits
and for reasons that escape me right now
and there is a separate error posting
regarding development permits which I
haven't referenced in any of my
materials because we do not yet have
development permits in our official plan
but for reasons beyond my comprehension
there is not yet a role for development
permits in Bill 98. That being said, we
still don't know what the regulations
will or will not be this fall. Um, but
other than development permit systems,
I'm unaware of the ability for
municipalities to do those kinds of
percentage limitations
on minor variances.
>> Mayor, if I could just one final
comment. uh with respect to uh Jeff
Gratzk's comments here.
>> Please go ahead councelor Preco will be
patient.
>> It it'll just be a sentence and
essentially I've had some consultation
with a um a plan municipal lawyer also
an environmental lawyer one and the
same. And um apparently we have more
authority than we think we do. And um I
think we need to start pressing uh that
point and understanding that we may have
more strength in our ability as a
municipality than we we uh think we can.
And uh so that's what I've been told and
I'm hoping that in the future we're
going to press things a little bit more
aggressively uh instead of being pushed
around by
the supposed upper level governments
that uh tell us whether we how high
we're supposed to jump. I I don't buy
some of it. Thank you.
>> Thank you,
councelor Predco.
>> Thank you. And through you uh your
worship. Um I don't really have too much
more to add. I think um I'm supportive
of this whole approach and I'm really I
just wanted to express um some um
appreciation to our planning department
and and uh Jeff and Director Whitlib um
with regards to listening to the diverse
voices that are in the room this
morning. and uh I know you're going to
be doing that going forward. So I'm I'm
very confident that we have uh this in
good hands. And then I only my only
other comment was to make sure that as
we go forward we are looking at um in
our urban centers um affordable housing
and how do we help streamline
development and make sure that we can
get our communities growing the way we
want them to grow and make sure they're
sustainable. That's all. Thank you.
councelor Hazelton.
>> Thank you. Um I want to touch on a
couple of things and u I'm trying not to
be repetitive. Um I think think there's
lots of good uh conversation here, but
we heard from um one in the audience who
talked about um uh the what I well I
will phrase as the need for compliance
with policies
um without the need for uh complaining
about your neighbor. And one of the
things that uh I observe in our township
is that um uh and I've heard this over
and over and over again. I heard it when
I was campaigning in 2018. I heard it uh
last week when I was out at a meeting um
where everybody is basically saying, "We
may not like the rules, but at least
enforce the rules you have and I don't
want to complain about my neighbor." So,
how do we fix this dilemma? Because um
we have chaos going out there going on
out there in our township. We have all
kinds of things going on that should
never be done. We have clear-cutting of
properties. Uh but you know if somebody
doesn't complain then nothing is done.
So we have to change this model because
it is really irritating
a large percentage of our residents who
don't want to complain but are horrified
at the things that are going on. So
we've got to get out ahead of this. And
I was delighted that uh the earlier
speaker talked about this but I think
that has to be very high on our agenda
in the world in today's world of um you
know uh commercial quality drones. uh
what you can do with a uh commercial
drone in the planning and the building
department to find [snorts] things and
inspect things and inspect things not
only on day two but on day 200 and day
2000 because uh as we all know we've had
applications come forward uh to council
here and we have uh we have been told
that oh I'm just going to put a wall in
the middle middle of my building and
claim that the other side of the wall is
storage uh and it'll never be used for
human habitation and uh you have to
believe that uh but of course we know
what's going to happen next year and the
year after. So we really have to get a
handle on this. This this can't be
something left to uh to to fall off the
edge of of the uh the table.
The other topic, you know, first of all,
I as I say, I think there's lots of good
comments that have been made, but um
you've heard uh a couple of times and
I'm going to say it differently.
We keep hearing at council
about the rights of the individual
to develop things on their property.
What we don't hear is what are the
rights of the community to establish
guidelines for what they want in their
community. Now, we've got lots of
neighborhood plans in our community, and
I understand that those are going to be
uh, you know, hard perhaps to pull into
the new Bill 98 structure. Uh, and I'm
hoping that our excellent planning staff
can figure out a way to do that. But
what is really important for most people
that I talk to is when you are trying to
uh articulate what you want in your
community
and
you are frustrated by the fact that
there seem to be words in other
documents that somehow imply that the
property owner has the the right to do
whatever he wants in spite of all of
these constraints that are uh being
crafted for that community. There's a
disconnect there. And I don't have the
answer to it, but I think we need to
figure out how to deal with that. Uh
because there is no point in having a
neighborhood plan if you can't enforce
it and if there is language in some
other policies that let somebody do
whatever they want. And you've heard
this with respect to uh percentage
increases and variances and uh and all
kinds of other things. So I I I don't I
don't want to blabber it too much, but I
think we really need to identify that as
a key uh topic to deal with going
forward. Otherwise, we're wasting our
time with uh an official plan and zoning
bylaw. Thank you.
>> Thank you,
counselors. Any other comments you wish
to make at today's meeting?
All right, then I'm going to say if
there are no further questions or
comments, this concludes the special
mean of planning council regarding the
official plan comprehensive review.
Thank you to everyone who participated
today and all comments and submissions
received will form part of the public
record and will be considered as the
official plan comprehensive review moves
forward. There's no decision being made
on a new official plan as part of
today's meeting. Today's meeting is an
opportunity to provide information,
receive feedback, and hear from the
community as the review process moves
forward. And I'm going to repeat again
off script, so to speak. As far as I'm
concerned, we've opened the door. The
door remains open. And I'm encouraging
anybody and everybody and those who are
watching now and those who may watch
later and those who may talk to somebody
else who talked to somebody else who
watched if you got input please provide
it one way or another because that is
our intent is that we get um input from
the the uh from everyone. Um, obviously
the end result will be a compromise, but
let's have a compromise that is as
reasonable and fair and useful as
possible. Um, so that that is uh I again
I'm just going to say thank you very
much for everybody's input. I really
appreciate it and I really appreciate
the interest and I think this process is
we got we got a great staff to help make
this process move forward. And um I have
a motion to read and I am moved by
councelor Bochek, seconded by councelor
Cooper. Be it resolved, the council for
the township of Georgian Bay accepts all
information regarding the 202628
Georgian Bay official plan comprehensive
review in bill 98 new framework update
review presented at the special meeting
on August 26, 2026
and two refers all set information
comments to the township plan staff for
further discussion with the indigenous
communities, district staff, community
groups and anyone who commented and
anyone else and st and township staff
shall not schedule the mean of councel
to further consider what was heard at
the special meeting and the review
topics until after comments are
addressed
council all those in favor
and that is carried thank you very much
moved by councelor Predco seconded by
councelor Jarvis be it resolve the plan
council dots bylaw 2026-068
to confirm the proceedings of the August
26 26 2026 special planning council
meeting. All those in favor?
And that is carried. And finally, move
by councelor Gratziano, second by
councelor Hazelton. Be it resolved that
the plan council is now adjourned at
10:57 a.m.
until September 15, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. or
at the call of the chair. All those in
favor. And we are now adjourned. Thank
you. Thank you again, everyone. Thank
you.
All right.
Let's
go ahead. Okay.