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A good precedent? Musselman's Lake residents voice frustration with lot severing

Some residents are concerned that subdividing property will change character of community

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 15, 2021
Simon Martin

Revitalizing Musselman’s Lake or ruining it? Depends who you ask. Burcu Sezer is one of several residents upset with a proposal to subdivide a property on Rosehill Drive and build an extra home and rebuild the existing one. She said the move sets a precedent and it will soon be followed by other homes. “We came for the privacy and now there is going to be none,” she said. 

Tara Brasier has only lived in the area two years. She said she moved to Musselman’s Lake because it was a “beautiful oasis that had country charm”. She doesn’t want a crush of higher density development coming. “I’m all about the atmosphere in terms of my mental health. I need to see sky. I need to see trees. I need nature. I need the lake. I do not want to be looking at someone else’s bedroom window,” she said. “If you want to live in a house that belongs in the suburbs, go to the f-ing suburbs.”

Builder James Spratley has done several similar projects in the Musselman’s Lake area through Eco Valley Homes. Spratley said he worked for two years to get a bylaw passed in 2015 to allow for lands in the Musselman’s Lake area to be conveyed for small development. Spratley said the environmental considerations that go into building his homes is why the town, region and Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Area agreed to the bylaw. “It’s not just a precedent, but a good precedent.”

Spratley typically purchases a double lot like the one at 57 Rosehill Dr. and rebuilds the existing home, severs the lot and builds an additional home that also has a bio filter septic system. He said the two new homes create less effluent than the existing home. The high standards to which he builds his homes doesn’t come cheep. “It’s 50 bucks more a square foot,” he said of the building cost. “But it’s a better home and a legacy I like to leave.”

Roman Chacinski has lived in the area for 30 years. He said the residential village zoning of Musselman’s Lake is the last vestiges of a quaint sweet little community.  “Can we at least uphold some of these regulations?,” he said. “What I was most offended by was the fact that all of a sudden he’s rezoned this and we’re able to just plunder.” The new home on Rosehill Drive will be twice as big as the surrounding homes, he said. Chacinski also didn’t buy the argument that these were eco-friendly homes. “Building is not an ecologically responsible thing to begin with,” he said.

Brasier said she doesn’t have a problem with Spratley building houses but said he’s not mindful and compassionate about the concerns of the community with redevelopment becoming the norm. “I woke up from a dream the other day where that lake had condos all the way around,” she said.

Spratley said while he hears complaints from a select few about what he is doing, there are many others who are supportive of what he is doing. While some see the changes as poor for the quality of life on Musselman’s Lake, Spratley said no change was impractical. 

The property on 57 Rosehill Dr. was subject to a committee of adjustment hearing earlier this summer. While there are residents opposed to changes Spratley and other developers are making on the lake, there are also several who support what he is doing. Mary Ann James is one of the longest tenured residents on Musselman’s Lake. She said she loves what Spratley is doing in revitalizing run down properties. “He’s not building big mansions,” she said. “I feel he’s very conscious about building eco-friendly homes.”