Savage gets the OK to build four homes on Long Lake

Sudbury native and former NHL star forward Brian Savage has received city approval to build four seasonal homes on land he owns next to Long Lake.

The approval gave Savage permission to sever his property into four lots. Because he was creating no more than three new lots, the application didn't have to go through planning committee.

That contrasts with a 20-unit development he was hoping to build next to Long Lake that the committee rejected in 2009, because of the lack of city infrastructure and concerns about the environmental impact so many homes would have on the lake.

But the current application was deemed to have a much smaller impact, so it didn't qualify as a subdivision, which would have to be approved by the planning committee and have a public hearing.

Mark Simeoni, the city's acting director of planning services, said the city's Official Plan draws the line at projects that create three new lots or less. Developments that create more than three new lots go to planning committee, while ones that are smaller are approved by a consent official.

"That's called a consent process, and it's governed under the provisions of the Ontario Planning Act," Simeoni said. "In this case, we're governed by council's direction on these matters.

"Council has drawn the line at three, and this one went through the consent process based on the fact that it met the test of three or less."

But even smaller developments like this require consulting city departments and other agencies, who review the application in case they have any objections. In this case, an ecological site assessment and an environmental impact study will have to be completed before construction can begin.

Some residents on Long Lake are objecting to the plan. While anyone who lives within 60 metres of the property was notified about what was happening, area resident Stephen Butcher said in an email that the city had the application “for months but only gave lake residents a short time to respond.

“The notice was sent out during he winter when many residents were away, including myself,” Butcher wrote.

Now that the March 4 deadline to appeal the approval has passed, Butcher says he and others in the area are angry at the city for allowing the development to proceed. He accuses city staff and the developer of using a process that allowed them to do an end run around the planning committee, avoiding public scrutiny in the process.

Butcher also questions where the homes will get their drinking water.
“These new lots are almost barren and mostly bare rock,” he said.

“Where will they get their potable water from?”

Butcher says it has been clear for years that Long Lake is at capacity for development and the city should say no to any new housing proposals.

“Yet the city has seen fit to not only develop it but grossly over develop it,” he said. “The (blue-green algae) blooms that started in 2008 are directly related to a excessive amount of field beds on the lake.”

Steve Caswell, a Realtor who represents Savage in Sudbury, said he finds it ironic some of the people who are objecting to the proposal live in houses much closer to the shoreline with much older septic systems.

"A lot of this opposition is coming from people whose properties wouldn't even comply with the new rules regarding shoreline requirements," Caswell said. "Their focus should be on the 50-year-old septic field beds, where people put sod right to the shoreline, and their septic beds are leaching into the lake, causing the blue-green algae concerns."

The four homes Savage has received approval to build will include a minimum of 150 feet of shoreline, as well as a 30-foot natural buffer. The smallest property is six acres, Caswell said, and with today's building standards, will be designed to have a minimal impact on the surrounding area.

"We have health unit approval, which means they're going to be satisfied with it, and any development has to be in full compliance of any environmental concerns," he said. "Brian has owned this property for quite a few years. He just want to sever it off and sell the four lots."