Greater Sudbury's planning committee dealt with some difficult requests to alter the city's primary planning document Monday.
The Official Plan (OP) guides all zoning and other planning decisions in the city, and it must conform to provincial guidelines.
In the first case, Robert Chaput applied for an OP amendment to allow him to open a takeout restaurant at Barrydowne Road and Palm Dairy Road. Chaput required the amendment because the land is in an area designated for residential use only.
“A takeout restaurant use is not permitted in the zone,” said senior planner Alex Singbush.
However, it borders Barrydowne, an area with significant amount of commercial properties, Singbush said, including a restaurant adjacent to where the takeout business would be located.
The staff report recommended rezoning the 950-square-foot property C3 special, which would permit the restaurant. Considering the area where it's located, Singbush said the rezoning “request is appropriate.”
“The property has been vacant forever,” added D.S. Dormand Ltd.'s David Dorland*, who represented Chaput at the hearing.
And Chaput he met with residents in the immediate area and collected signatures in support of his application.
“For the most part, no one had any major concerns,” he said, with the exception of some who had concerns about parking.
The committee approved the change, with restrictions including the only permitted use shall be a takeout restaurant; a minimum of 10 parking spaces be provided; and, an opaque fence with a minimum height of 1.5 metres be built from the front building line to the easterly lot line.
However, the committee refused a request from Diane Boudreault of Chelmsford, who wanted to create two new lots on her rural property, which is against provincial rules and the OP.
Dorland, who also represented Boudreault, argued the request is in line with less rigid rules being proposed in the city's new OP, which likely will be approved sometime in 2017. The rules for rural lots were put in place to discourage people from building on unserviced land in favour of already serviced land, easing burden on taxpayer.
“We're not extending services,” Dorland said. “These are privately serviced. And it is not offensive to residents in the area.”
Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier, whose ward includes Chelmsford, said the property isn't far from existing services, and is less than one kilometre away from Canadian Tire.
“It's not really a new lot development,” Montpellier said.
It bothers him that provincial rules override local decisions, he added.
“It irks me that it's a Toronto decision for folks who want to live in Chelmsford.”
But Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer said that if the rules regarding dividing rural lots are loosened in the new OP, Boudreault could ask for the amendment then.
“Applying now is a little premature,” Sizer said.
*An earlier version of this story had incorrect information.
