To Our New Councillors,
For the sake of argument, I want you to pretend that it is 2042. You are retired from Council, and a fictitious new Council wants to approve a large 10m high bowling alley on the sand West of Harbour Street between Mill and Green Streets, just South of the Whitefish Grille. The 2042 Council feels this would be a nice addition to the Cedar Crescent Village and it has been deemed outside the SVCA regulatory area. You are a member of this fictitious 2042 Council and are opposed to this Bowling Alley, but according to the developer and Councillors in favour of the idea, it meets all the zoning by-laws. It is 10 m high. It’s a recreational facility and an accessory retail facility. All conditions meet the parameters of the current Special Provisions. What amendments to the 21.4. By-Law would you wish that the 2022 Council had put in place that would have prevented this from happening?
A by-law amendment to OS-1 Zoning Special Provisions would protect the waterfront from further commercialization that includes tall commercial structures that do not fit in with the natural beauty of the shoreline or the intended uses of Open Space Zoning. The only way to ensure this is by amending the By-Law now.
I know there would have to be an RFP posted and accepted by Council, and all the other approvals and permits obtained, but how different is it really from what’s happened with the CCV? None of us thought that the little 2000 square foot Train Station and Mini-Putt were going to be replaced by 19,000 square feet of commercial buildings. Who of us can predict what a future Council might think is a great idea? In 2019, there was not a By-Law in place to protect us from the CCV development. Let’s not make that mistake again. By-Law 21.4 must specifically delineate what is permitted in the OS-1 Zones.
Please think seriously about this. As new Councillors you are soon going to be asked to consider the proposal by Scott Pearson to bring back the original NS&PE steam train to North Shore Park. North Shore Park is part of the OS-1 Zone. Does it meet the current zoning by-laws? Whether or not to move forward to approving this project will be one of your first critical votes so please consider amendments to By-Law 21.4 very carefully.
Patricia Corrigan-Frank
Port Elgin
