East Lake cottage site plan gets green light

By Nicole Kleinsteuber
Prince Edward County council approved a site plan for a five-cottage development on East Lake Tuesday night.
The decision was made after much debate between council and neighbours who are not pleased with the project.
Don Ritter, owner of Shore Club Holdings Ltd., told council he’s been trying to get the project off the ground for seven years.
“I want to create something for everybody so everybody can live in their own space,” said Ritter.
Ritter’s neighbour Carolyn Barton addressed council saying she’s not trying to stop the project, but she’s concerned with how the plans have changed since the last time they were reviewed by council.
Barton said she wants Ritter to build a five-foot privacy fence along the entire length of the property for security and safety reasons.
Councillor Jamie Forrester said he would like to see the neighbours resolve their differences behind closed doors and not before council.
“After seven years of going back and forth between the OMB and council they still have not been able to solve these problems,” said Forrester.  “What would lead us to believe that they would be able to do it now?”
“I found it hard to believe that the county would give a site plan approval to a project when the two groups aren’t even talking,” said Forrester.
The two groups are meeting with Forrester on Sunday.
“I’m hopeful they will be able to ‘hash’ out some of their problems out and get them talking,” said Forrester.

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Council will review report on all-season cottage resort

MARCH 28 – Council will a review a report at tomorrow’s committee of the whole meeting, to decide whether to execute a site plan agreement with Shore Club Holdings Ltd for an all-season tourist establishment consisting of five two-bedroom tourist cottages at 258C County Road 18, Athol.
The report’s executive summary recommends approval, stating a staff review, including review of comments received from the public, confirms the proposed design and development conform to all applicable local and provincial policies and satisfy municipal requirements.
The owner applied for a zoning bylaw amendment in 2006 and following a denial of the amendment by council in May 2008, a settlement was negotiated and approved by the Ontario Municipal Board.
In keeping with the provisions of the site plan agreement, the developer has provided the municipality $11,000 in security in case of non-performance with respect to on-site and off-site works and a deposit of $2,000 to cover legal fees.
The report indicates staff has been in consultation with a number of neighbouring property owners throughout the process and provided their comments and concerns to the owner and addressed concerns in the draft site plan agreement. The neighbours have been provided a copy of the recommended agreement.