The municipality of Central Manitoulin held a public meeting October 24 before the regularly scheduled council meeting. Held in council chambers, the meeting was to deal with two zoning bylaw amendments.
The first zoning amendment application was submitted by Matthew Garniss who sought permission to convert an existing storage building in Providence Bay to a residential dwelling. Approval of the proposal would provide for a variance to Section 6.11 which states in part that ‘No person shall use any lot, or erect, alter or use any building or structure for the purpose of a separate dwelling unit on a lot zoned other than for residential uses.’ Therefore, Mr. Garniss is required to amend Comprehensive Bylaw No. 2002-07 to permit a separate dwelling unit.
The building that Mr. Garniss wants to convert to residential is to the west of the Mutchmor that he purchased in 2016 and subsequentially renovated. This was the J.F. McDermid and Sons building that housed Home Hardware for many years.
Jamie McDermid of Providence Bay submitted a letter of support for Mr. Garniss to be able to amend the existing bylaw, and reads, “As many of you know, my family owned said property for over 70 years. I applaud Mr. Garniss, the saviour of this property. Mr. Garniss has shown at a very young age his willingness to take a business gamble. The dollars spent and the jobs created in the renovation of the Mutchmor with beautiful detail. The mural on the side of the Mutchmor. What a gamble. My grandfather, J.F. McDermid, my father, J.M. McDermid and my uncle I.S. McDermid would be so proud of this mural. So proud of the Mutchmor. And if alive, would be giving Mr. Garniss their full support, allowing him to fulfill his dream. Allowing Mr. Garniss to renovate this existing storage building and turn it into a residence. This will be positive for Providence Bay. I would hope council will feel the same.”
In discussion, Councillor Derek Stephens asked if the lot could be severed and Chief Building Official and Bylaw Enforcement Officer Raymond McPherson replied, “No. There is not enough frontage.” Mr. McPherson also supplied, “I think it is a wonderful idea.”
At the council meeting held next, Councillor Angela Johnston said that she “appreciates all the work Mr. Garniss has done,” and the amendment was passed.
The second amendment to come before council concerned an amendment by applicant Daphne and Christopher Vanderzanden to permit a garage being 92 square metres in size to be located and used within land in the township of Campbell in Central Manitoulin.
The zoning bylaw number 2002-07 states that no accessory building shall exceed 66 square metres and 10 metres in height in a residential zone.
As Mr. McPherson explained to council, the applicants purchased their lot in 2018. It contains their dwelling and guest cabin and has frontages on Perivale Road East and also on Lake Kagawong. They have constructed a garage without a building permit and are requesting the amendment.
Councillor Stephens pointed out that he does agree with Mr. McPherson that the amendment should be accepted, but said that it is time for the bylaw to reflect the fact that the municipality is getting people who need oversized buildings as they are acquiring such things as trucks, tractors and so on. “Up the sizes in our bylaws,” he said.
The amendment was accepted.
Safety, Security and Health Committee
Andrew Young has been appointed as a volunteer firefighter with Mayor Richard Stephens commenting that it was good to see volunteers stepping up.
Finance and Economic Development Committee
Council accepted the Mindemoya Old School Repurposing final feasibility report from Tulloch Engineering but did not accept the recommendation that council extend the mandate of the MOSRC for a period of five years to explore more options and other avenues of funding for the school building. MOSRC member Joanne Smith had made a presentation to the finance committee asking for the extension.
Even though it is in contravention of bylaw 2012-11, the municipality has agreed to allow an extension on the removal of the equipment for the mobile permit vendor T & A Chenier until April 1, 2020. This equipment is across from the Bank of Montreal in Mindemoya
Council will direct staff to include the cost for a recreational/social coordinator in the 2020 budget and further that the staff will research possible funding opportunities for this position. Councillor Angela Johnston spoke in favour of the motion, saying that there isn’t a lot of municipal social media and that there are new ideas from the recreation committee that she heads. She spoke in favour of hiring for the position even if funding is not available. Council Stephens also spoke in favour of this motion. He stated that he hears over and over again that there is nothing to do in the municipality, but noted that there is pickleball at the Missionary Church, euchre, kids curling and so on and this coordinator could “get stuff online. I think this is a good idea. I don’t know if it has to be fulltime.”
The recommendation to approve the insertion of the OPP 911 poster in the final 2020 tax billing was not approved by council. Councillor Stephens was against this motion as he felt that the municipality pays enough for OPP services and should not have to “mail out stuff for them. They should be doing it themselves. We have to print it, use staff time to fold it. It might only cost three or four hundred dollars, but I think they should do it.” Councillor Al Tribinevicius suggested that the posters be given to the students at CMPS to bring home.
“It has been done before,” he said. Mayor Stephens commented that this was a good idea.
