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Council rejects Woodington Lake MZO, waits for County’s Comprehensive Review

February 3, 2022   ·   0 Comments

New Tecumseth Town Council voted in favour of rejecting a Minister’s Zoning Order during the Committee of the Whole Meeting on Monday, January 31.

The proposal for a new development was first brought to Council in March 2021.

At the time, Woodington Lake was granted a deferral to get more information from the public. It was supposed to be presented in May, but the request was withdrawn several days before the Council meeting.

A second request was made and was on the agenda for the Committee of the Whole on January 17, 2022. That request was withdrawn on January 14.

Less than a week later, it was announced that Woodington Lake had submitted yet another request for consideration of the MZO and that was placed on the meeting agenda for January 31. 

Steve Gilchrist, representing the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust, made a presentation against the development at Monday’s meeting.

Mr. Gilchrist said main deficiencies in the application include “the impact of almost 3,000 homes” and the fact that “water collection is negatively impacted by the new homes.”

He also said the plan to create a new road would be “illegal – under the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan.”

Deputy Mayor Richard Norcross put forth a motion to reject the MZO. However, the motion was found to be confusing to some councillors as it included rejecting both the Woodington Lake MZO, as well as future MZOs. 

After discussion, it was decided to create two motions with the first referring specifically to Woodington Lake and the second motion referring to future MZO’s.

The first motion stated: “That Council of the Town of New Tecumseth does not support the Woodington Lake Management Inc. Request for a Minster’s Zoning Order (MZO) to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Province of Ontario.” 

Seven councillors voted in favour of the motion. Councillor Wayne Noye did not register a vote.

The second motion stated: “That Council will no longer consider support for development applications that are primarily residential submitted as a request for Municipal support for a Minister’s Zoning Order in the Town of New Tecumseth until the County of Simcoe’s municipal Comprehensive Review is complete.”

This motion was also carried.

MZOs are a controversial issue in the province.

They were originally intended to be used in sparsely populated areas that did not have a municipal government structure capable of making development decisions. Most MZOs were applied to northern parts of the province with sparsely populated areas.

A change in legislation allowed developers across the province to appeal directly to the provincial government ministry to be allowed to develop land by going over the authority of local municipalities.

When granting an MZO, the province only gives a “yes” or “no” answer and does not place any restrictions if one is granted. 

This has caused many local groups to complain that an MZO allows developers to build on sensitive areas with no regard for environmental issues. 

By Brian Lockhart
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter


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