Campfire Circle

Local environmental groups share concerns over sensitive location

A camp for children affected by cancer, and other serious illnesses, is proposed for a 32.8-hectare property on the north-eastern shore of West Lake located south-west of Bloomfield off Wesley Acres Road. The proponent— Campfire Circle—has filed an application for a zoning bylaw amendment to re-zone the property, currently used for agriculture, to site-specific tourist commercial in order to facilitate the development and use of a specialty summer camp on the property.

Camp Ooch was founded in 1983, and Camp Trillium was founded in 1984, with both organizations launching their first summer camp programs in 1984. On January 1, 2020, Camp Ooch and Camp Trillium merged and now leverage their combined strengths, supporting children and families affected by childhood cancer in Ontario with year-round social supports, including programs that meet the wide social, emotional, and developmental needs of campers. There are currently two medically-supported overnight Ontario camps located in Muskoka and Waterford, with all programming offered at no cost to families.

John McAlister with Campfire Circle told the committee that the other two locations are at capacity, and the vision is to be able to go from serving 3,000 children a year, to 10,000 children.

“We really need to have another medical camp that is in a location that can better support kids that are in eastern Ontario, so by having a medical camp here in Prince Edward County, we are really ideally situated to support kids at CHEO in Ottawa, and Sick Kids in Toronto,” he said. “This new camp would be a shining example of medical innovation and care located right here in the County.”

The proposed development will include accommodations for up to a maximum of 387 campers and 144 staff, activity buildings, medical buildings and multi-use buildings, all of which contribute to the overall operation of the summer camp. The existing driveway entrance is proposed to be maintained off Wesley Acres Road with a parking lot, accommodating approximately 300 vehicles.

The central hub of the main camp will include a medical building, indoor and outdoor sports activity areas, and the main lodge. The lodge will include the dining hall and associated kitchen facilities.

Accessory buildings surrounding the lodge will accommodate art and music activities, sporting activities and a pool maintenance building. The pool, flagpole field, and outdoor amphitheatre will round out activity amenities surrounding the central lodge, which will serve as gathering spaces for all users at camp.

West of the central hub, seven residential buildings for campers are proposed. Six of these residential buildings will sleep multiple campers in a communal layout, and the seventh will provide more flexible accommodation depending on the ongoing needs of the camp.

East of the central camp hub, six additional residential buildings are proposed. Three will serve as camper bunks, two will provide staff accommodations, and one is intended for the use of the camp director or similar administrative staff.

Water access is proposed along the southeast frontage of the site as it provides open water frontage to West Lake outside of the wetlands. A floating dock, small watercraft access (including canoes and kayaks), and a boat launch access are proposed. A helicopter pad is also proposed adjacent to the surface parking area to serve in cases of medical emergency.

Councillor John Hirsch said although it is a wonderful project he would love to have in the County, it was in the wrong place.

“Why do you feel the Natural Core Area concept doesn’t need to be considered, because this kind of development would not be allowed according to the Official Plan as far as I am concerned,” said Hirsch.

Miles Weekes, a planner with Fotenn Planning and Design, noted that the Natural Core Area policies are fairly broad. “They are not particularly specific as to how development should proceed on those lands,” said Weekes. “We are not proposing development within the Environmental Protection areas, the OP allows for the boundaries of wetlands to be refined based on ground-truthing because mapping is based on very high-level data,” he said. “No development is proposed within the wetlands which are really the boundaries of the EP designation We are maintaining a 30-metre setback from those features.”

Hirsch disagreed, and then noted the Official Plan promotes a 120-metre setback from development, unless it has demonstrated that there will be no impact and no effect on ecological function.

“The EIS has not demonstrated that’,” said Hirsch. “So I just wondered if you could comment on that deficiency.”

Weekes said that the OP does speak to a minimum setback of 30 metres, and that the 120- metre reference is a trigger.

“Any development within 120 metres of a provincially significant wetland requires and EIS to be completed to determine what an appropriate setback for a development is. The 120 metres is not in and of itself the setback requirement. It is our intention to demonstrate why a 30-metre setback is in our ecologists view appropriate.”

Councillor Janice Maynard said she was appreciative of the work the group does, but had concerns over the location.

“Why this location with its environmental constraints and really a lack of optimal waterfront?

Why this particular location and not something a little easier to develop and in a place that it might fit better with the natural environment?” she asked.

Weekes said that its their opinion that it is a site that is feasible.

“Every site has its constraints. To find property that is perfectly zones, has no nearby features, especially along a shoreline in any community, you are simply not likely to find that. Campfire Circle does not jump into things without forethought and due diligence,” said Weekes

McAlister added that the group had done three years of due diligence in looking at where they could build. This site was identified as a viable location to build the camp.

Ameliasburgh councillor Sam Grosso, shared a story of his child, who has diabetes, visiting a similar type of camp, and coming home to tell his family it was the first time he felt normal.

“This is a camp for kids that have cancer, think about this, it is a camp for kids that have cancer. Some of these kids are not going to make it and they are gonna die, and it is so important to have these kids to really live somewhat like normal kids and give them the opportunity,” said Grosso.

He then questioned Councillor Maynard’s rationale. “That’s my rationale for this project and for anybody to question that, you gotta give your heads a shake.”

Councillor Corey Engelsdorfer asked if the same ownership group owned the former camp island in West Lake, and why not redevelop that site.

McAlister explained that Garratt’s Island was used by Camp Trillium, and that site had experienced a fair bit of flood damage.

“When we look at where our priorities are at the moment, there are limitations on what development we could do on that island site. It wouldn’t be a seasonal camp, and quite frankly, when we are looking at trying to make it possible for very medically fragile children, transporting them to an island that requires boat access is not ideal,” said McAlister.

Doug Dolan, who lives on Wesley Acres Road, worried about the increased traffic and the scale of the project.

“Just the camper residences, there are 10 of them, they are over 7,000-square-feet apiece, the total square footage of constructed development on this space is 193,000-square-feet, and the parking lot has provision for 291 parking spots. As a resident, that is a little bigger than I imagined,” said Dolan.

Amy Bodman spoke on behalf of the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists. She said major development should be not be allowed in the middle of a Natural Core Area.

“Moving hectares of land from an NCA, two entire woodland features in fact, so many buildings can be built on them, is much more than simple groundtruthing of an NCA boundary. Changing an NCA boundary significantly requires an OPA,” said Bodman. “PECFN cannot support this application because we believe it is in the wrong place: major development of this sort should not be allowed in the middle of a natural core area.”

She also noted that the EIS had completely ignored the connectivity aspect of the natural heritage system.

“Another problem is that the EIS passes the buck on many threats to three provincially significant wetlands that surround the site regarding possible contamination from the septic system that will contain seriously toxic chemicals, like chemotherapy drugs, and from the swimming pool, which also contains chemicals toxic, to wetlands,” said Bodman. “If the property is re-zoned, it will be tourist commercial for perpetuity, no matter who the owners are.”

Cheryl Anderson, Vice President of the South Shore Joint Initiative said the approval would be precedent setting.

“If this project is approved, a precedent is set. The value of the natural heritage system and linkages is debased, the principles espoused in the OP mean nothing,” she said.

She then reminded the committee of all the environmental hurdles the property holds.

“The proponent is planning a tourist establishment in a Natural Core Area requiring an Official Plan Amendment and this is not permitted. In addition, the Official Plan requires 120-metre setbacks on lands adjacent to natural heritage features: that requirement is not met in any of the planning documents or recommendation of the EIS.”