Beach construction in Tiny Township in northern Simcoe County has been halted for a year.
A shoreline alteration interim control bylaw was passed at a special council meeting on Monday, backed by the full support of council who praised staff and outside help in the quick institution of the rarely used municipal tool.
Residents filled the council chambers following the posting of notice of the special meeting last Friday, just days after a post to the ‘Tiny Township News’ social media group displayed a photo of a backhoe situated adjacent to Balm Beach where contentious beach rights issues have played out over recent years.
Council heard from township planning consultant Jamie Robinson of MHBC Planning, who provided background regarding a report on regulatory options for retaining walls and structures within 30 metres of the 178-metre, high-water contour — a designation used in planning and engineering to note the 100-year water level.
Following Robinson’s overview of the report and recommendations, Couns. Steffen Walma and Dave Brunelle sought to clarify that in addition to retaining walls and structures, that other work such as fences and buildings like boat houses were included in the bylaw.
“Landscaping, structures, retaining walls, fences — all of those things within 30 metres of the shoreline should be incorporated into the interim control bylaw," said Walma.
He added that addressing the retaining walls was a response to a need in the community, referring to “a specific retaining wall” without further explanation.
Deputy Mayor Sean Miskimins agreed.
“We are well underway with creating our shoreline alteration bylaw and my worry, quite frankly, is people are going to rush to construct so they can become grandfathered in," he said.
While the subject was addressing construction on the township’s beaches, both Robinson and township legal counsel, Sarah Hahn of Barriston Law LLP, placed large focus on the rarity of the interim control bylaw itself to explain to council and residents its strengths and limitations. By using the interim control bylaw, Robinson stressed that no other interim control bylaw could be used in the municipality for another three years.
“It’s not a bylaw that’s used often,” explained Robinson, “but it does provide the ability to effectively place a freeze on development of a specific type, while the municipality undertakes a study to bolster a section (or component) of their bylaw.”
He included that an extension of three years could be added following the one-year expiry of the original interim control bylaw.
Hahn added: “There are no appeal rights for the first year; if there needs to be an extension after the first year, there can be. For an additional year, that is appeal-able to the Ontario Land Tribunal.”
As the bylaw was being re-written to include Walma’s amendment, Mayor Dave Evans addressed the gathered audience to explain the fast turnaround and why Tiny’s beaches — “the flame to the moth” in his words — were worth protecting.
“This is not something that’s used very often,” said Evans, noting with a small laugh that staff and consultants “have been working very hard in the last… week and less. We’ve been pulling this together, and it was something that we could not have done — it was an innovative solution.
“We were at the forefront of short-term rental legislation bylaws, and we’re at the forefront of coming up with a shoreline alteration bylaw. And we want to make sure it’s right. We don’t want to waste your time, our time, and our taxpayer money going back and forth to the court trying to make this thing stick," said Evans.
Evans took time to read through the full bylaw, explaining to the crowd: “You’re only here once so you might as well hear this, I think it’s worth it.”
The shoreline development interim control bylaw and report can be found in the agenda page located on the Tiny Township website.
