Trae Eco Resort

Planning committee rejects re-zoning in North Marysburgh

Update: At Tuesday evenings Council meeting, the file was referred back to staff by Councillor John Hirsch, in hopes the public and applicant can make improvements to the proposal.

After more than two hours of discussion and public outcry, Council, sitting as Planning Committee, rejected a rezoning that would see an eco-resort built on County Road 7 in North Marysburgh.

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. Currently, the property consists of open space, treed areas and an escarpment that descends to the waterfront below. Buildings on the site include an existing shed located above the escarpment and a docking structure at the water’s edge.

The land is designated as shoreland which, according to the County’s Official Plan, is intended for tourism and recreation development, as well as providing public access to the waterfront. But in order to proceed, the lands needed to be re-zoned. The applicant was looking to rezone the property from Rural 1 (RU1) to Special Tourist Commercial in order to permit a tourist establishment. In addition, they proposed the Environmental Protection zone on the property be re-zoned to Special Environmental Protection to allow recreational uses such as walking trails and structures such as observation platforms and decks.

The proposed resort would include a hotel, spa, café, assembly hall, and event venue. The proposal includes the development of 19 twoand- three-bedroom cabins and 12 studio cabins. The 19 two/three-bedroom cabins will contain kitchenettes, bathrooms, and private living space. The studio cabins would resemble a motel style, with back to back rooms arranged in a pod. Additional amenities include a pool, pool house, golf cart pathways, and walking trails. Waterfront features would include on land decking, removeable 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.

Bruce McMinn, a neighbour of the property for more than 20 years, said his wife currently farms their property, growing canola on the other side of the road. McMinn worried that the new development would be much too dense and too large in scale for the surrounding properties. “A cornerstone principle of good land use planning is a duty to avoid land use conflict. This principle is undermined by the encroachment and intensification of a new, large-scale non-farm development within an established and sensitive rural community,” he said.

McMinn also worried about light pollution from the resort’s driveway, as his wife’s house sits directly across the road. “This will be the most impactful development we’ve seen in North Marysburgh in 25 years,” he added.

Councillor Kate MacNaughton was concerned with the scale, and also having a resort in a secluded portion of the County, pointing out that it just puts cars on the roads which is in turn bad for the environment.

In a letter to planning committee, Rachel Donen and Dorothy Chen said the resort doesn’t fit with the rural landscape of North Marysburgh. “North Marysburgh consists of residential and farming land. These are people who make North Marysburgh their home and community. Re-zoning to commercial use is greatly concerning as profit is valued highest in the motel-type tourism business proposed out of necessity for the business to survive and thrive,” they said.

The applicant will have the opportunity to appeal the decision at the Ontario Land Tribunal. Council could also decide to revisit the item at its Tuesday meeting, which was after The Times deadline. An update will be provided next week.