Cressy Bayside Estates

Neighbours raise flood concerns over proposed sub-division

Several members of the public highlighted flooding as an issue of concern as it pertains to a proposed new waterfront sub-division. In a virtual public planning meeting last Wednesday, neighbours noted how the County Road 7 property often sits under water in the spring, something municipal planning staff appear not to have considered in their review. The proposed low-density sub-division, known as Cressy Bayside Estates, is located at 1041 County Road 7 in North Marysburgh, and includes lands of approximately 13.24 hectares running along the southern portion of County Road 7. Twenty-five participants attended the public information session, including councillors Bailey, Hirsch, Margetson and St-Jean, where the meeting provided a brief overview of the application and an opportunity for the public to make comments and ask questions.

If approved, the Cressy Bayside Estates will include eight residential lots (ranging in size from 0.8 to 1.7 hectares) and will be custom built homes constructed by the individual lot owners and will front onto Adolphus Reach. The sub-division will also include a common element condominium block (Block 9) 4.4 hectares in size, which includes a private common element condominium access road which will follow the existing access road on site. “It was to provide direct driveway access to each of the eight lots along the perimeter of the subdivision, so the driveways will not be on County Road 7, but would be on the northern limit of the common element,” noted Ruth Ferguson Aulthouse of RFA Planning Consultant.

The property includes a significant wooded area including an escarpment (currently zoned Environmental Protection with no plans to re-zone) at its southern limit. “This area will also be owned in common with all the eight lots; they will have a one-eighth ownership of this common element and will ensure the maintenance of the condominium road, as well as management of the forest and protection of the escarpment,” said Ferguson Aulthouse. A pioneer cemetery, known as the Turner Hill Cemetery, sits on the northwest corner of the site. “We have mitigated the cemetery, we defined the boundaries, many of them are flat stones with initials on them or nothing at all with beach stones brought up and placed,” noted Nick Gromoff of Ground Truth Archeology Limited. “We would be placing it into a zone to protect the cemetery and it would have special provisions to limit the use to a pioneer cemetery and prevent the disturbance of any removal of any trees, and also to prohibit any future burials,” stated Ferguson Aulthouse. The licensed cemetery is situated on Lot 8. “This area will be zoned to provide protection from any future potential disturbances and it will be owned by the owner of Lot 8, but the municipality would still have jurisdiction over that,” she explained.

A number of studies have been undertaken, including an environmental impact study, a geotechnical report, a traffic review, a storm water management brief, a hydrogeological assessment, and an archeological assessment. The hydrogeological assessment determined bedrock was found to be of 1.5 to three metres depth on the property. “Mostly, sand was found on the lots which is ideal for on-site septic systems,” said Robert Hillier of BluMetric Environmental Inc. The well water supply assessment started out with the installation of drilled wells. “Due to the challenges of finding adequate water quality and quantity with drilled wells on some lots, we moved to dug wells which were installed on six of the eight lots, so there are two lots with drilled wells and six lots with dug wells,” he said. “Well pumping tests indicated adequate quantity for residential use, and water quality testing indicated satisfactory water quality, and some water quality recommendations to improve the aesthetic water quality.” Since the dug wells are located close to Lake Ontario, water filtration and continuous disinfection was a recommendation.

An archeological assessment revealed an old cabin on Lot 2 of the site, described as a “historical homestead” and referred to as the Wagner cabin, with found artefacts from the early 19th century. “There was material from before the war of 1812, the first decade of the 1800s, but no material later than 1830,” said Gromoff. “This placed it as a particularly significant site.” He noted a few shards of First Nations pottery dating back 1200 to 2300 years were also found.

As an adjoining neighbour to the site and a 20-year resident, Brian O’Sullivan said he was never consulted about the building project. “We discovered this building project through our own research and our own lawyer.” He is also concerned that none of the reports contain any mention of the floods of 2017 and 2019. “How can it be that something as significant as those two events in the County, especially since the slope of this land is very close to the water, was not included in any of these studies?” asked O’Sullivan. “It occurs every spring, and you will have large ponding going on.”

Ferguson Aulthouse noted the flood plain was surveyed. O’Sullivan disagreed. “As someone who has lived through that flood and seen the devastation, which basically took out the shoreline, and almost took out our shore well too, I wonder if the County is setting itself up for a lawsuit by new homeowners by not forewarning them of the effects of those two floods on properties they are now going to purchase,” he added. Another member of the public asked how a septic system can work when large parts of the property to the east is under five to six inches of water in spring, enquiring where the discharge would go when it floods. “I’m not aware of flooding on parts of the property,” Hillier responded. “I have seen the flood plain which doesn’t seem to affect the locations of the septic systems.”

Next steps will include a statutory public meeting where staff will bring forward a report with recommendations to council at a later date. All studies and documents relating to this planning application are available on the planning portal of the County’s website.