MINTO – Town council approved a rezoning to limit uses of a newly-created rural lot to activities consistent with agricultural zoning.
A report from Wellington County planner Matthew Daoust explains Wellington County’s land division committee has granted provisional consent for Albert and Darlene Eschlboeck to sever a one-hectare parcel from an approximately 20-hectare parcel of land they own on Ski Hill Road.
The amendment rezones the severed parcel from site-specific agricultural (A49) to agricultural (A) to fulfill a condition of a severance application.
“It’s actually a little different than we often see as a rezoning for consent,” explained county planner Michelle Innocente at the Jan. 19 Minto council meeting.
“It has to do with the fact that the property has a site-specific zone on it that allows for some maybe not-so-typical uses in the agricultural areas.”
Innocente explained the rezoning will remove site-specific provisions on the property that allow for an overnight children’s camp, farm vacation, kennels and keeping of exotic animals.
“So the application will actually remove the site-specific zone and put it back to just a straight agriculture zone,” for the severed parcel, said Innocente.
“It was unclear to me in the application what exactly they are intending to do with this property,” said councillor Jean Anderson.
Innocente said the intent is simply to create a new rural residential lot.
“They would need to go through the regular process of applying for a building permit application after the lot is created,” she noted.
Minto planning technician and administrative assistant Ashley Sawyer said town staff is supportive of the application.
“We did not receive any comments from surrounding property owners,” she noted.
No one spoke for or against the proposal during the public meeting.
During the regular council session, council passed a bylaw to approve the rezoning.
