No big changes in the works for Woodstock’s rural residents consultant

By Jim Dumville – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

T im and Kirsten Liv- ingstone sought answers about the impact of municipal reform on their Strawberry Hills Farm in Pembroke when they attended the planning open house at the AYR Motor Centre in Woodstock on March 29.

“We were just worried how the rules would affect us,” said Tim.

Strawberry Hills Farm now lies within Ward 5 of Woodstock’s newly expanded community which became a reality on Jan. 1.

While concerns remain, the Livingstones left the open house more at ease than when they entered.

Kirsten said they wanted to ensure planning and zoning changes now under consideration would not hamper their business in the future.

Tim explained their successful business includes greenhouses and crops producing several types of vegetables. They will also soon add a chicken meat production facility.

He said the building permit for the chicken production operation got caught in the Jan. 1 changeover, but it was eventually approved.

The Livingstones wanted to avoid seeing the former town’s planning and zoning bylaws expand to the rural areas.

Jennifer Brown, an associate with Dillon Consulting, advising the Woodstock Planning and Compliance Department, eased the Livingstone’s and other rural residents’ minds during the open house’s two-hour sessions held from 3 to 5 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m.

Brown said one of her key messages to rural Woodstock residents during the open houses and other communication efforts is that they’ll see few changes in landuse regulations.

“We’re using existing plans where possible,” she said.

She explained land use for a significant portion of the local service districts now encompassed by Wards 1, 2, 3 and 5 fall under the current Carleton County Rural Plan, which will see minimal change.

Brown said the Richmond LSD never had zoning, but Woodstock’s amended land planning and zoning bylaws would recognize the area’s history of agriculture and forestry.

She added the new bylaws would take in the current and historical land use.

“The rural character will be critically important,” Brown said.

Brown added the plan would grandfather in existing land use. It will also recognize landowners’ needs, allowing accessory building con- struction if they don’t affect neighbours.

Certain wards, including the Jacksonville area, will allow some commercial clusters and businesses which fit comfortably in the rural character of Woodstock’s outlying areas. Brown said residents need not worry about significant development.

She said while rural residential would allow the development of an occasional subdivision and, even more rarely, the construction of multiunit residential buildings, such as duplexes or townhouses, planning would guard against urban sprawl.

“We have a critical need for housing, but not housing at all costs,” Brown said.

She said the focus of the March 29 open houses was gathering residents’ feedback, recommendations and concerns. As she said in earlier presentations to council, public input is a crucial part of planning.

Mayor Trina Jones, who, along with CAO Andrew Garnett and several council members, attended one or both the open sessions, echoed Brown’s view that communication is vital surrounding the expansion of the municipal plan.

Jones said the open houses helped allay the fears of some of the 60 or more people who at- tended the March 29 sessions.

“I think they came in with one notion and walked out with another,” the mayor said.

Jones said the entire reform process proved confusing for many if not most, residents. She said many are still determining their ward or municipal boundary lines.

For example, she, Brown and others pointed to the confusion surrounding a tiny strip of the Debec LSD near Hodgdon Road, which falls in Woodstock, not Lakeland Ridges. Except for that small strip, the entire village of Debec and most of the Debec LSD are part of Lakeland Ridges.

Jones said the open house is only part of the municipal planning factgathering process.

“At the end of the day, it’s a first step,” she said.

Brown said the information gathered at the open houses and by the survey and interactive maps would inform part of Dillon’s first report to council.

She described it as the “What We Heard” report.

The colourful Post-It notes on the information boards, including “What is your vision for the future of Woodstock?” and “hot topics,” attested to the residents’ many viewpoints.

Brown said she would collect those notes and add them to what she heard in her conversations and online comments to help form her report to council.

“I’m glad to see them filling out those notes,” she said.

Residents could participate in the online survey until April 10 and can continue to view the online interactive map at mysocialpinpoint.ca

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