The Municipality of North Grenville will be hosting a consultation with the development community on Thursday, March 12, to get their input on a new draft by-law which will govern waste-water treatment capacity allocation going forward. The by-law has been deemed necessary because the municipality’s waste-water treatment facility is currently running at about 70% capacity. This means that until the facility can be expanded, the municipality will have to be selective in capacity allocation for new developments to make sure the system can accommodate the needs of the growing municipality.
Director of Public Works, Karen Dunlop, told council that the process is already underway for the expansion of the waste-water treatment facility. An environmental assessment has been completed, and the next step is to start working on a detailed design, which could take up to 18 months. If everything goes as planned, the new system could be online by 2026 or 2028, depending on whether council chooses to take single construction or multi-phased approach. The estimated cost for the expansion is between $31 million and $32.5 million, and it will be able to accommodate the municipality’s needs until 2038. Most of the expansion will be paid for through development charges, but available grants are also being looked at to help cover costs.
Lee Sheets of Novatech Engineering approached council at Committee of the Whole on March 3 to express his thoughts on the by-law on behalf of the development community. His main concern was making sure developers weren’t going to have to sink tens of thousands of dollars into the development process without the guarantee of the capacity allocation they needed to follow through on their project. “I think it is rather naïve to think that they are going to invest if they don’t have an understanding about whether they are going to get capacity,” he said. “This situation is dire as it relates to economic investment in the municipality.”
Director of Planning and Development, Phil Gerrard, assured him that consideration would be made in the conceptual phase of a project, and developers would have confirmation of their capacity allocation before going through the site plan process. “ The intention here is that it would be looked at from a conceptual design stage,” he said. “We don’t expect a developer to go through and completely design a project.”
Local developer, Rob Thompson, was also at the meeting to share his thoughts with council. He agreed with priority being given to development in downtown Kemptville when it comes to capacity allocation. “The downtown needs to be given some weight,” he said. “I believe that, particularly in a community that is developing as fast as North Grenville, the quality of life and livability of community is directly proportionate to the health of downtown.”
Rob was also concerned about the issue of affordability of housing in the municipality. The demand is only growing, and he believes limiting development will only make owning property in North Grenville more expensive and out of reach. He believes that the answer to this might be in rural developments that don’t hook up to the water treatment facility.
Director Gerrard says that the province encourages municipalities to focus on urban areas before turning to rural developments to prevent urban sprawl. However, he says it is something council can still consider moving forward.
It is clear that council does not want to send the message to developers that they are not welcome in the municipality. “We are an exceedingly reasonable council and we are seeking reasonable solutions,” Mayor Nancy Peckford said at the meeting. “It is not our intent, in any way, to hamper or impair development.”
Deputy Major Jim Mcmanaman doesn’t believe that the bylaw will put a halt on development in the municipality, seeing as the yearly limit outlined in the bylaw is actually quite generous. “I see this as a cautious plan,” he says.
The consultation session on Thursday will be another opportunity for developers to have input on the by-law. Council wants to work with the developers to make sure they feel supported in investing in the municipality, but also remain responsible when it comes to their current capacity restrictions.
“I would like to see the takeaway that the development community has co-authored this by-law,” Councillor Barclay said. “That is the intention of meeting on Thursday.”
