Changing course

Zoning approved for North Marysburgh’s Trae Resort

County council has approved a rezoning for a tourist resort in North Marysburgh, by a recorded vote of seven to five, after it turned it down less than a month ago. Mayor Steve Ferguson recused himself from the vote, as he took a campaign donation from the proponent.

The property, located at 2353 County Road 7, is sized at 13.4 hectares, and also has 204 metres of frontage along County Road 7 and fronts onto Adolphus Reach.

The proposed resort would include a hotel, spa, café, assembly hall, and event venue. The proposal includes the development of 19 two- and three-bedroom cabins and 12 studio cabins. Additional amenities include a pool, pool house, golf cart pathways, and walking trails. Waterfront features would include on land decking, removable docking, swimming, and the use of the existing dock structure.

The development plan also include a clubhouse, an event space, several spa facilities and a sauna, a pool house together with a naturalized swimming pool, which would double as a reservoir for fire protection.

Since the last meeting, the developer has revised the concept plan after public feedback, by relocating lighting, looking at noise mitigation, traffic, site capacity and environmental impacts.

The revised plan also includes provisions intended to guide development adjacent to the shoreline by limiting the extent of development along the shoreline and establishing a cap on the developable area. The developer has also defined day use and will limit the number of weddings to 10 per year. The site will also not exceed a capacity of 150.

Several members of the public spoke in opposition of the project, citing concerns about the potential impact on their quality of life from increased traffic, noise, light pollution, land use conflict and damage to the natural environment.

Derek McGeachie was worried that once the resort is built it won’t be regulated. “The only two uses in this area are farming and rural single family residential. Why would we push a very large development, with 150 plus people, that won’t be regulated?” he asked.

Bruce McMinn wasn’t able to attend, but submitted his comments prior to the meeting. He believes approval would set a precedent that would lead to more resort, hotel and spa development in the ward. “A cornerstone principle of good land use planning is a duty to avoid land use conflict,” he said in a letter. “This principle is undermined by the encroachment and intensification of new large scale new non-farm development within an established and sensitive rural community, triggering adverse effects which undermine quality of life and amenity and threaten the natural environment.”

Excited about the development at first, Daniel Wigdor said after looking at the proposal in detail, his opinion changed quickly. His property sits on 130 acres to the east of the proposed resort. “We looked at the proposal in detail. What we saw was totally unacceptable and incompatible with the surrounding context and would totally transform our area,” said Wigdor. Wigdor explained that he currently partners with Trent University to study soil regeneration methods for sustainable farming on the property next door. “And perhaps most relevant, our property contains provincially-significant shorelands, which receives and filters all of the water coming down the escarpment on which Trae sits,” he added “The scale of the resort is devastating.” Alan Hirschfield is the developer of Trae Resort and has owned the property for over two years. He told Council the project is a modest and pleasant step forward for the County and tax base, particularly given the issues caused by short-term accommodations, of which there are currently 29 in close proximity to Trae. “We think we have come up with a design that is a good balance of scale and feel, and balanced between nature and built form,” said Hirschfield.

“I’d rather not debate items raised by the previous delegations. Council knows better than either delegates, or I, the facts on the ground,” added Hirschfield, saying that items such as fire control and water had been dealt with by technical professionals.

Local councillor David Harrison said he was very familiar with the piece of land. “If I was a farmer, this is the last piece of land in Prince Edward County I’d be interested in,” said Harrison. “This resort—without any infrastructure having to be added—looks reasonably low density to me and will bring in $100,000-plus per year without having to spend any money on infrastructure, and would also help bolster our tourism master plan.”

Councillor John Hirsch, who tabled the reconsideration, thought the developer was successful in addressing the concerns raised, calling it a cooperative effort. “Whether the neighbours like it or not, our Official Plan sanctions this, and this would be a sure loss for us at the OLT (Ontario Land Tribunal) if we didn’t approve it.”