The town’s committee of adjustment has approved a minor variance to allow a home industry to expand to more than twice the allowable floor space and grant a reduced setback from a nearby residence.
The committee, which is made up of the members of Minto town council, made the decision at the Sept. 19 meeting, despite concerns expressed by Wellington County’s planning department.
David and Angela Crispin requested the variance on their 1.5 hectare (3.75 acre) Third Line property, which contains a single family dwelling and home industry building. The home industry manufactures wood stairs, guards and railings. The variance would permit construction of an addition to the existing home industry building on the subject property with a total floor area of 577.86 m2 (6220.0 sq. ft.) and a setback of 106.6 m (350 ft.) to a residence across the road. The zoning bylaw permits a maximum floor area of 232.25 m2 (2500 sq. ft.) and requires a minimum setback of 121.9 m (400 ft.) to a residence on a separate lot. The variance is for an increased area of 345.61 m2 (3720 ft2) and reduced set back to a dwelling 15.3 m (50 ft).
In a report to the committee, senior planner Curtis Marshall noted the county official plan and township zoning bylaw require that home industries are small scale and secondary to the main use of the property.
“We have concerns that the proposed expanded home industry is no longer secondary to the rural residential use of the property, considering that the property is only 1.5 ha in size,” Marshal stated.
“The committee should be satisfied that the proposed expanded home industry is secondary to the main rural residential use of the property and that the application is minor and appropriate considering the size of property.”
Minto chief building official Terry Kuipers advised council the floor space figures include about 700 square feet that the applicants plan to use for non-business purposes.
“Essentially the total square footage as proposed is 5,500 square feet, with that extra personal storage on top of that,” he said.
However, since there is a door between the walls of the two portions of the building, “we did have to include that area in the total square footage of the home industry because sometimes businesses like to encroach into that area.”
Kuipers added that “if that does happen down the road then there’s no extra zoning issues to be addressed.”
“Town of Minto staff met regarding the application and expressed no concerns,” noted building assistant Michelle Brown in a written report.
The committee voted in favor of approving the minor variance application.
