BARRHEAD - Barrhead County residents who want to create a subdivision that is less than 20 acres will need to submit an outline plan before it is considered for subdivision applications greater than that; the municipality will require an area structure plan (ASP).
That was the consensus of the county's municipal planning commission members during their Sept. 17 meeting approving a motion by Coun. Jared Stoik.
Discussion on potential requirements resulted from a resident who approached the county asking to create an additional residential lot from an agricultural parcel adjacent to Highway 18 near Range Road 52 in Campsie.
Development officer Jenny Bruns said the proposed lot would be 10 acres.
She asked MPC members for directions, as the requested subdivision needs to meet the municipality's current rules under the Land-use Bylaw (LUB) as it would exceed the maximum number of allowed subdivisions in an Agricultural District.
Bruns stated that the LUB allows four lots per quarter with a maximum of 15 acres taken for residential purposes in an Agricultural District, adding significantly more parcels or lots that have been taken out of the quarter.
"This has been excluded within the land-use bylaw amendment [in 1979] that created the Campsie subdivision," she said, noting the Campsie lots are all zoned country residential (CR). "So what you have is Campsie with your CR and [40-acre ag slice] right beside it."
Bruns added that the 40-acre ag parcel was recently purchased by the subdivision proponent, who also owns other lots in Campsie and wants the extra land but not the residence.
"[He wants to] split the off the house and is proposing 10 acres, but is flexible," she said, adding the rest of the property undeveloped and zoned for agriculture, except for the yard site.
Bruns said that, for the most part, the county's municipal development plan (MDP) is the overarching document that governs subdivisions, specifically Section 3.3.1 on multi-lot county residential development.
She added that the MDP states that multi-lot CR development is only allowed after appropriately amending the land-use bylaw.
"[We] also encourage it on lower-capability agricultural land," Bruns said.
In the land in question," Bruns said, "there is a mix", but none of it was what would be considered "high-quality ag land".
She also noted that the MDP required applicants to complete an area-structure plan (ASP) for any proposed subdivisions 20 acres or larger.
The exception, Bruns said, is the municipality could request a conceptual or outline plan if the county believes an ASP is impractical or inappropriate due to the scale of the proposed development, on less than 20 acres, or if it is already included in a previous ASP.
Items and information in an ASP include a stormwater management plan, delineating wetland areas, how the lots are to be created, what, if any, municipal or environmental reserves are required, historic resource study and approvals, transportation and road access, lot servicing, among other considerations.
"It is a significant amount of work and cost to create an area-structure plan," Bruns said, estimating the cost of upwards of $80,000. "Maybe even more for the more complicated land, such as Lakeview Estates, because of [the proximity of Lac La Nonne] complicating drainage issues."
However, she said the benefit of ASPs is that they give council the needed information to make informed decisions and the conditions required for subdivision approvals.
"And [with the proposed subdivision] being ag, you don't want to rezone this without doing an area-structure plan," Bruns said. "I understand the proponent's frustration, as he just wants one more lot, but it can become a real mess to do just a one-off."
Coun. Walter Preugschas asked what the original landowner's vision was in 1979 for the potential expansion of Campsie.
"There was no vision for expansion. [The landowner] did not touch the other 40 acres and did not include it in their proposal," Bruns replied, calling the original application "a napkin proposal". "There was a survey, but they did not do much work."
Reeve Doug Drozd also sympathized with the applicant, suggesting that the ag land was low quality and unlikely to be cultivated.
"[To be told] that they have to do the work that should have been done in [1979] and do it right is an arduous task, but is something [council should require] to be fair about it," he said. "Any other proponent that comes up with a similar plan for a parcel would be expected to jump through the same hoops."
Drozd then asked the difference between an ASP and an outline plan.
Bruns stated the ASP had much more detailed.
"Outline plans are less intense, with less geotechnical information," she said.
But Bruns added she did not know how much less detailed an outline plan would be in this case. Later in the meeting, she estimated an outline plan ranged from $40,000 to $60,000.
Regardless of the type of plan, she said the proponent would have to develop a stormwater management plan and a water study. The latter is a provincial requirement if more than five lots are in a quarter.
"Given the scale of this development already ... and I don't know how [the province] would feel about triggering another lot," Bruns said.
She noted she is not opposed to rezoning the lot as long as the appropriate steps are taken.
"It makes sense because there is already so much infrastructure there; it is just about doing it right, so there are no future surprises," Bruns said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
