Pebble Beach East

Quinte’s Isle Campark seeks approval for expansion

Last Wednesday, the municipality hosted two information sessions at the Picton arena to provide the public with an opportunity to review an application by Fourward Holdings, operators of Quinte’s Isle Campark, for a project that would see 337 trailer sites constructed along the south shore west of Welbanks Road in Athol. These sites are for threeseason, owner-occupied park model cottages, with access from an existing trailer park to the west. These information sessions are a follow-up to one held in Cherry Valley in 2018, and the scope of the project has been slightly modified since then. The number of trailer sites remains unchanged, but certain areas within the boundary will be preserved as much as possible in their current state, and an area to the east that was designated as a wetland compensation area—bordering on an environmentally protected significant provincial wetland—is no longer included on the current plan. Much of the information, including site plans, zoning areas and site location were displayed on poster boards, and proponents Tim and Steve Ward were present to answer questions or provide more details about the project. Representatives from the municipality were on hand as well, including CAO Marcia Wallace and Planning Coordinator Matt Coffey. Mayor Steve Ferguson attended, as did councillors Stewart Bailey, Ernie Margetson and Jamie Forrester.

Tim Ward said that concerns raised at the 2018 public meeting have been addressed in the revised plan. “We’ve gone to a great deal of environmental work, we’ve had consultants come in, we’ve identified a couple of areas of the park that we have avoided and are going to preserve. Part of our proposal is to identify them as environmentally protected. It’s going to be a fantastic area within the park where people will enjoy some of the scenery and some of the environmental features of the property as well,” he said. He added that the cottage sites are spread out over a larger area, thus reducing density, and steps will be taken to avoid species at risk, as well as including some mitigation areas. He also said the project will include a new shore well that will allow them to reduce the amount of water the entire site will take from their current groundwater source. “We’ve converted the majority of our water to our shore well, and we’re probably taking less water than we’ve done in the past 20 years from the aquifer.”

(L-R): Steve Ward, one of the proponents of the proposed expansion, describes the site plan to Pronica and Andrew Janikowski.

Tim Ward also addressed the issue of emergency services, given that when fully built out this project as well as the existing sites will house the equivalent population of the village of Wellington. “First responders are given a tour of the site, and all sites have 911 addresses with reflective signs. Part of the development proposal gives a second exit, so if there is an emergency in the park, now we have two points to evacuate if necessary.” He said that traffic studies have been done, and that Salmon Point Road has ample capacity to handle the expected increase in traffic flow.

However, not everyone is satisfied with this project and with the process being followed. Nina-Marie Lister of Friends of South Shore noted that what is being asked is a change to the County’s Official Plan, and adequate public consultations have not been done.

“We’re here not just asking Planning not to change the zoning or the Official Plan amendment, we actually want them to engage in a proper public process, which is their duty to the citizens of the County, to have a discussion about what kind of future we want, rather than allowing these amendments to slide through, one at a time, bleeding away our biodiversity and our farm heritage in plain sight,” she said. “This project is asking for an expansion onto rural land, adjacent to a protected wetland, and one of the last remaining coastal wetlands on Lake Ontario, so it’s a very special place. This project would take rural land out of production, land that is vital to connect up some of these wild places. We would really like to see the County strengthen conservation initiatives on the south shore. I worry that when these kinds of projects are approved without public dialogue, we lose the very landscape that sustains us. We are at a time of globally unprecedented decline in biodiversity, and the best chance we have at protecting our biodiversity is in our southern landscape. That’s the south shore. That is its gift to everyone.”

A number of people found it difficult to decipher the maps and site plans and were unsure of the scope of the project. Jane Macdonald of Wellington said she couldn’t really understand the documents on display, and tasked the County for not communicating well about this project. “I don’t see a facilitation on the part of the County for a dialogue, for communication, for getting input about what County folks are feeling,” she said. “The process has been driven from the start by the developers. It’s not good enough.” That lack of transparency was echoed by Pronica Janikowski of Picton. She and her husband, Andrew, attended the session to find out more about the project. “I didn’t know anything about this until tonight,” said Pronica. “There seems to be an awful lot of development going on, and we want to know what’s happening.”

County CAO Marcia Wallace was pleased with the public response to the information sessions, which were held in the spacious Picton Arena, with the number of attendees limited to follow COVID-19 protocols. “This is a first for us to allow municipal staff to hear directly from people who have concerns about major impact kinds of projects, and this will inform the staff report when it comes forward to council,” she said. “I am pleased that we are able to do this in person. I don’t think there are many municipalities doing in-person meetings under COVID. We have a considerable file already, but if people are worried, they can write to Matt Coffey at the planning department.” Council is expected to receive a staff report about this project in late September or early October with a recommendation whether or not to approve it. For more information about this project, please visit haveyoursay.thecounty.ca/planning. Comments can be sent to Planning Coordinator Matt Coffey at mcoffey@pecounty.on.ca.