Quinte’s Isle, Friends of South Shore come to agreement in expansion appeal
Administrator | Dec 08, 2022 | Comments 2
Friends of South Shore (“FOSS”) have ended their Ontario Land Tribunal appeal of the proposed Quinte Isle Campark expansion on Soup Harbour after reaching an agreement with Fourward Holdings (Ward family).
“The ecological features of the site are better protected with this settlement, which was the primary goal of this appeal”, said David Donnelly, legal counsel to FOSS.
The appeal was launched following council approval last summer of the park expansion for an additional 337 seasonal park model trailers for the ‘Pebble Beach East’ project, including an Official Plan amendment to designate the lands as ‘shoreland’ which allows tourist commerical activity.
The 38 hectare development site lies between two Provincially Significant Wetlands (PSW), with the Soup Harbour immediately adjacent on the eastern boundary, and the Salmon Point PSW just west of the existing Quinte Isle Campark at 558 Welbanks Road, in Athol.
Ecological restoration across the site includes work with a landscape architect to create two new wildlife corridors with native trees, shrubs, and perennial vegetation essential to many species and species-at-risk, including the Blandings turtle, songbirds and the Monarch Butterfly. The shoreline area will be kept in a naturalized state. Costs will be shared between FOSS and Quinte Isle.
The exact location of the shoreline protection area to be protected is to be established by Quinte Conservation, which adopted an updated Shoreline Plan in June, 2022.
Debra Marshall, executive director of FOSS, said the group “will never come to terms with how PEC proceeded with and approved the original proposal for this development, which was not permitted under the County’s Official Plan, but we achieved a much better result by using mediation and evidence, and therefore, our environment is better protected, and the planning process in PEC is improved.”
“Lake Ontario has precious few remaining places like Soup Harbour. During one of the darkest times in Ontario’s land use planning history, we are proud of our community’s effort to protect Soup Harbour, our natural and cultural heritage, and to improve the County’s process for regulating development. We raised the bar for climate-resilient and community-engaged inclusive planning,” Marshall added.
The county is expected to review what are considered minor technical revisions to the proposal early next year and detailed design will move through the site plan approval process.
Filed Under: Local News
At least the Council looking at the “settlement” is slightly different than the one that approved this proposal so hopefully clear thinking and thoughtful questions will be asked. The approval of this trailer park expansion on the South Shore still annoys and mystifies me. The FOSS group appears to have done the best it could given the situation, for the environment, wildlife and the community (who clearly in large numbers objected to this proposal from the outset).
Sad that this development went through, however outcome will be much better for nature than if it had not been appealed and concessions fought for. Lets watch as see if the black our periods for construction on the land are honored – provincially mandated times when no work can commence during identified nesting and migration periods. A settlement has been reached yet council still has to approve the site plan as altered.