MINTO – Town council has approved the rezoning of a portion of a rural property to permit a church and cemetery.
The purpose of the proposed amendment is to rezone a portion of the 98-acre Baseline Road property from agricultural to agricultural site-specific zoning to permit a church and cemetery “for a community that relies extensively on horse-drawn vehicles,” and to address Minimum Distance Separation I (MDS I) setbacks from the existing livestock operations on the subject lands, states a staff report from Minto planning coordinator Ashley Sawyer.
The property currently contains an existing dwelling, accessory structures (garage and shed) and barns housing cattle and swine and an unoccupied portion that previously housed turkeys.
The subject property is currently designated as secondary agricultural and the County of Wellington’s Official Plan permits community service facilities such as churches and cemeteries that are required for local communities which rely extensively on horse-drawn vehicles as their sole means of transportation.
A public meeting on the proposal was held Dec. 6.
At the time, council deferred any decisions to allow town staff to arrange an additional meeting with neighbours and the applicant to address the concerns and comments raised at the public meeting.
Concerns addressed
A meeting was held on Dec. 19 with four property owners from three neighbouring properties attending in addition to the applicants.
“Town staff feel that the concerns/comments have now been satisfactorily addressed,” the report states.
The report notes concerns about the location of the cemetery were addressed through plans to plant trees for buffering, while concerns about driveway positioning were addressed through the applicant’s agreement to reduce the driveway size.
Regarding odour concerns the report notes pig manure is currently spread on the subject property where the church and cemetery is proposed to be located, so the development may reduce the pig manure smell for neighbouring landowners.
“Town staff felt the neighbours’ concerns and comments have now been addressed,” Sawyer told Minto councillors on Jan. 10.
“The result of that meeting is that the neighbouring landowners are supportive of the proposal provided that additional trees and buffering is provided.
“They would also like the driveway size reduced.”
“Don’t you wish they were all this easy? … We spent a half an hour or so that night discussing it and it was a great discussion and it’s nice to have people agree,” said Mayor Dave Turton.
Council received the staff report and, later in the meeting, passed a bylaw to approve the rezoning.
