GORE BAY—Algoma-Manitoulin Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Michael Mantha met with Manitoulin Planning Board (MPB) officials last week to discuss the frustrations and challenges facing the board in its attempts to complete a new Official Plan (OP) for Manitoulin Island. Information was also provided by the MPB that shows a conservative estimate of how much assessment has been created since 1980 on Manitoulin Island with developments including those consents on rights of way (private road development) which is over $59 million dollars.
“We wanted to meet with Mr. Mantha to express our concerns relating to the OP and specifically three areas: the consents on rights of way on private roads, Lake Manitou having been deemed at capacity for development and the deer yard issue,” said MPB Chair Ken Noland. “We wanted to make our MPP aware of our position on them and if he could approach and discuss our concerns with the appropriate ministers in these cases.”
“I met with Ken Noland and Elva Carter (MPB secretary) so they could bring me up to date as far as the recent frustrations and challenges the MPB is facing in trying to complete the Official Plan,” Mr. Mantha told the Recorder after the meeting last Friday. “Now that I have the information from the (MPB) I will try to help in getting the various ministries together so we can share this information and the concerns with them. We need to know why they are being held up in the process of developing the Official Plan and why the planning board hasn’t been getting responses to their questions.”
“The draft OP process has been ongoing for a very long time,” said Mr. Mantha. “The right of way issue and what the province is saying can no longer be part of the OP and development in areas such as Manitoulin is one of the issues that has been raised, and many municipalities are facing this same challenge on this with their own OP. Some have even taken the issue to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) and are awaiting decisions.”
“Mike will be attending the AMO (Association Municipalities of Ontario) conference and he is hoping to speak to representatives of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) on our issues,” said Mr. Noland. “One thing we are being told we are going to lose is the creation of lots on rights of ways. We aren’t the only ones upset with this, Lanark County, for example, is appealing that portion of their OP with the province. The last time we talked to their representatives they had spent $30,000 and not gone to the OMB for a hearing as of yet.”
“The loss of consents for developments on right of ways is huge for Manitoulin, certainly when you add the numbers of dollars of assessment that has been created with this, since the MPB was created, it’s a staggering amount,” Mr. Noland added.
“An interest has been expressed in determining the amount of tax assessment rights-of-way have contributed to Manitoulin Island municipalities,” the MPB provided in a brief to Mr. Mantha. “We decided to estimate the assessment indirectly, querying the MPAC database and determining the average assessment of seasonally-accessed parcels on Manitoulin.”
“We conducted three different analyses: one for the overall average assessment, one for the assessment of vacant land only, and one for properties with residences constructed,” the MPB brief continued.
In conclusion, “querying the MPAC database to produce an estimate of the assessment value of the parcels created by the planning board gives us several pieces of information. We have a range of estimated assessment value, from $32,602,721.52 to $96,322,972.78 with the likely value being close to $59,481,669.74. This range of value represents a proportion of 2.14 percent to 6.34 percent of the total assessment value. Given that many high value properties have been designated as being permanent residences on the water, it is likely the real value is on the high end of this range. We can conclude that these values represent a conservative estimate of the assessment created by private road development.”
“We are still waiting to hear on the MNR deer yards issue as well and Lake Manitou,” said Mr. Noland. “On the issue of Lake Manitou being at capacity for development what we’re saying is that if they (MNRF) are concerned about the health and safety of the water, why can’t policies be put in place that are site specific to address these concerns?”
“Right now what the ministry is doing is killing all development, or at least significantly curtailing it,” continued Mr. Noland. “If the phosphorous levels are high, they can require development take place so far from the lake and that proper studies should be done to monitor and fix leaking septic systems there and make these studies mandatory for existing as well as new cottages.”
“These are part of the questions I will be asking the MMAH and the MNRF. I will also be attending the annual AMO conference and be bending the ears of my colleagues and letting them know of the challenges being faced by the municipalities and try to bring them together to hear the concerns and look at how we can make this process move forward,” concluded Mr. Mantha.
