Bruce Howarth

The appellants appealed the County's refusal of an application to sever an additional dwelling unit from their farm property.

The subject lands were designated as prime agricultural in the County Official Plan.

The appellants argued the severed portion had poor soil quality and was unusable for agriculture.

The Tribunal dismissed the appeal, finding that the proposed consent was not consistent with the Provincial Planning Statement 2024 and did not conform with the County Official Plan, which restricts lot creation in prime agricultural areas to protect agricultural resources.

The Tribunal noted that concerns regarding soil quality and land designation should be addressed through an official plan amendment rather than a consent application.

The Appellant appealed the County of Renfrew's failure to make a decision on a proposed draft plan of subdivision for 26 waterfront residential lots.

The primary issue was the adequacy and required upgrade standards for a private access road (Pasco Road) located on an unopened road allowance shared by two adjacent townships.

The Tribunal found that because the two townships could not agree on the standard to which the access road should be upgraded, the application failed to satisfy section 51(24)(e) of the Planning Act.

Consequently, the Tribunal determined the proposed subdivision was premature and dismissed the appeal.

The applicant appealed the County of Renfrew's refusal of an application for provisional consent to sever a vacant residential lot from a rural property.

The County denied the application because the applicant refused to provide a hydrogeological assessment and a noise impact study.

The Tribunal found that the proposed severance without the required studies was not consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement, 2024, and did not conform to the County's Official Plan, which explicitly mandates these studies for lots under 1 hectare or within 250 metres of a highway.

The appeal was dismissed and provisional consent was denied.