Public meeting on King City severance application draws a crowd

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 10, 2016
By Tim Kelly

Everybody had their say - pro and con - on a severance application for an official plan amendment and zoning plan amendment on Warren Road in King City and then it was time for local councillor Cleve Mortelliti to weigh in.

And he didn’t mince words.

“I have a very difficult time in accepting severances in existing plans of subdivisions. I’ve been very clear on that,” he said Monday night at King Township council.

Mortelliti will be one of the seven members of King Township council who will eventually make the decision on whether to accept or reject the proposal to split 325 Warren Rd. into two lots.
The application calls for a second home to be built on the new severed lot and the current garage to be torn down and driveway moved from one side of the house to the other home on the current lot.
The two-hour public meeting featured a variety of speakers on both sides of the issue in a packed township council chamber.

Some of those in support were concerned a monster home would be built on the lot if it wasn’t severed, raising concerns about the large amount of space adjacent to the current house saying, “it needs to be filled.” They suggested a second house on a severed lot would add to the township’s tax revenue.

Speaking of applicants Liina and Mark Peacock, Christine Herron said: “Some people have said they are doing this for monetary gain. Yes they are. But people who sell their property are doing it for monetary gain, so whether they sell the property or build and sell the property, they’re doing it for personal gain.”

She also added: “We could have a 10,000 square foot home put in the property or we could have a 2,100 square foot home put in (which is in the proposal).”

A number of opponents lined up largely concerned about the precedent such a severance would set in the neighbourhood and throughout King City.

Professional planner Dana Alexander, appearing on behalf of a number of residents, expressed a number of concerns about “changing the policy context with respect to this site-specific application.”

She said: “You cannot alone evaluate this application on metrics. The character of the area within which this lot exists is an important consideration.”

She pointed out that King Township has only approved three severances over a number of decades. “You have an official plan in place that restricts change. This area has remained stable in terms of lot area.

The proposed plan that has been brought forward would change this area and that change would set precedent.”

Greg Locke, who represented Concerned Citizens of King Township (CCKT), said, “We are quite in opposition to this particular application.”

Ian Hilley, who lives in the Kings Cross neighbourhood, which was subject to a severance application last fall, made the point that the point that economics plays a large part in such applications.

“You should avoid the gold rush (of severances) and not turn King City into the Klondike,” he quipped.

Council passed a motion to receive all the public comments and letters received and will now wait for public agencies and a staff report to come back before having another meeting on the issue.