Clearview Council Meeting 2026-03-09 | Part 2

Farmer says township's approval process makes on-farm businesses 'prohibitively expensive'

Delegations · Significant

Monica Brandan told council she paid over $50,000 in permitting costs for workshops serving 24 people per week, was told to hire consultants to certify things township staff could have assessed directly, and faced study requirements that would have cost $150,000. She urged council to amend bylaws, reduce reliance on consultants, and shift from 'focus on risk' to 'focus on permissions.'

Monica Brandan walked council through what she called the 'unintended negative consequences' of the township's risk-focused approach to on-farm diversified uses. Her project—workshops on land stewardship and nature connection, serving eight people at a time three times per week—triggered mandatory site plan control and a parade of consultant-signed studies.

Brandan said she was told at pre-consultation that she'd need studies costing more than $150,000. She hired a lawyer to be allowed to use a simpler minor variance process instead. Even then: 'To date, for the permitting alone, I've paid over $50,000.' She was required to have an engineer sign off on the fact that she didn't need a lighting plan—despite having no outdoor lighting and no nighttime activity. She needed a parking plan signed by an engineer despite staff agreeing on-site that 'it looks great.'

She called out what she described as an over-reliance on consultants that 'constrains [staff] from using their professional judgment.' She argued thresholds should be proportional: 'Eight people three times a week on fairgrounds represents less than 0.1% increase in traffic.'

Brandan also flagged a comment she said she heard from the development team: 'We don't like Morrison's Pumpkin Farm' because it generates traffic. The Mayor immediately corrected the record, calling Morrison's 'a success story' and 'not a problem.'

Brandan urged council to track how much these approvals cost, how many farmers abandon projects, and whether the process aligns with the strategic plan. She proposed bylaw amendments creating a separate, expedited stream for small-scale on-farm uses.

The Deputy Mayor acknowledged the new OP includes an 'as-of-right' provision for on-farm diversified uses in the draft comprehensive zoning bylaw. Planning Director Derek Abbotts said staff are developing an in-house guide to help future applicants navigate the process and tailor requirements to scale. The Mayor said the objective is to 'find a way' and endorsed the principle of 'focus on permissions' over 'focus on risk.'

Nothing was resolved. Council received the delegation for information. But a farmer just told council the current process doesn't work, and staff acknowledged they're building a guide because 'this can be a challenging situation.'

I was told we don't like Morrison's the pumpkin farm and it was then explained to me that Morrison's generated traffic and I think this beautifully illustrates that if you're only looking for risk you're only going to see risk.
— Delegation (Monica Brandan)

To date, for the permitting alone, I've paid over $50,000. I learned I need to widen part of my driveway. I hope I have reduced your litigation risk, although I don't understand why my business is risky. The only winner here is a consulting industry.
— Delegation (Monica Brandan)

I can assure you as an economic driver to tourism in our community, [Morrison's Pumpkin Farm is] a success story... if anybody is putting any question marks about how busy they are, I would suggest to you that the county of Simco traffic study recently showed that it's a success.
— Mayor

Zoning bylaw public comments still not published five months after deadline

Procedural · Minor

A resident asked why 71 of 159 public comments on the draft zoning bylaw haven't been posted online since the November 5 comment period closed. Planning staff said some comments arrived late, and they'll be included in a future report once the consultant reviews them.

Robert Thomas used public participation to ask when the missing comments on the draft comprehensive zoning bylaw would be made public. Staff confirmed they're aware some comments haven't been released and blamed timing: some arrived after the November 5 deadline, and the full set hasn't yet been reviewed by the consultant or formatted for publication by the Clerk's department.

Planning Director Derek Abbotts said all comments, including late ones, will be posted and addressed in a future report to council. The Mayor acknowledged that staff sometimes miss agenda publication deadlines when coordinating with the Clerk, and noted the township has to scrub personal email addresses and phone numbers before releasing comments to avoid them being harvested by bots.

The comments are public records. They're just not available to the public yet. Standard.

We're aware of that. We do have an item later on in this agenda that speaks about the draft comprehensive zoning bylaw. Um it is our intention to include those comments at a future report to committee of the whole or sorry to council.
— Planning Director

Zoning bylaw public meeting delayed again while township negotiates with County over natural heritage mapping

Planning · Significant

The public meeting on the second draft of the comprehensive zoning bylaw has been postponed until after a March 26 meeting with Simcoe County and NVCA to resolve concerns about the township's approach to natural heritage system and hazard zone mapping. Staff want to avoid releasing maps that may change.

Consultant Dave Aston from MHBC told council the zoning bylaw public meeting planned for March won't happen. The County and conservation authority raised concerns about the township's proposed approach to mapping the natural heritage system and the Environmental Protection (EP) zone.

Rather than release draft maps to the public that might need to be redrawn, staff scheduled a March 26 meeting with the County and NVCA to work through the issues. Aston said the goal is to ensure the approach 'is in conformity with the county official plan.'

The delay pushes the public meeting to sometime after late March. Aston said the team is 'carrying on with the other components of the zoning bylaw' and still targeting completion before summer. The Deputy Mayor reminded him it's an election year and asked staff to 'facilitate it getting through earlier rather than later.'

The Mayor noted public concerns about EP mapping, particularly residents who planted trees in their backyards and now find those areas being considered Environmental Protection. He said the township wants to 'treat everybody fairly and equally' and 'do this right.'

This is at least the second delay on the zoning bylaw public engagement. Council was told last meeting that mapping work was ongoing. Now it turns out the County has concerns, and staff need to go back to the table before showing anything to residents.

We had been targeting release of some information on the mapping and to be holding a public meeting sometime this month. Um, and what we have found is through comments that were received from the county and conservation authority that we need to circle back and meet with them.
— Consultant (Dave Aston, MHBC)

We felt it most important to make sure that there was this discussion with the county and conservation authority before we release mapping to the public that may be subject to change.
— Consultant (Dave Aston, MHBC)

It's an election year. I just hope we can get a lot of this done stuff done earlier rather than later. So it falls on this council to work with.
— Deputy Mayor

Council approves surplus dwelling rezoning at 5840 County Road 9

Planning · Minor

Council directed staff to bring forward a zoning bylaw amendment to permit creation of a surplus farm dwelling lot at 5840 County Road 9. The applicant has also filed a concurrent consent application. Councillor Bean declared a conflict and did not participate.

Council gave first approval to a straightforward zoning amendment to allow the creation of a surplus dwelling lot on a rural property. The rezoning is the first step; a consent application to actually sever the lot is also in the works and will be processed by the planning department if the zoning amendment is approved.

Planning Director Derek Abbotts said the application is 'in support of a creation of a surplus dwelling lot' and the rezoning bylaw will come back to council for final approval at the March 23 meeting. No discussion. No questions. Councillor Bean declared a conflict of interest and left the table. The motion passed on consent.

Public works scrambled all weekend as rapid snowmelt flooded roads, washed out culverts, and emptied the township's entire supply of pylons

Infrastructure · Standard

Director of Public Works Dan Perau reported significant road damage over the weekend as 8–10 feet of accumulated snow melted in a day and a half. Four or five roads were closed, ditches and culverts overflowed, and the township deployed every pylon it owns—hundreds of them—across washout and pothole sites.

Public Works had a brutal weekend. Dan Perau told council that the township received between 8 and 10 feet of snow over the winter, and about 95% of it melted in roughly a day and a half thanks to high temperatures and heavy rain.

The result: Riverside Drive was closed Saturday evening due to water over the road. Sunday brought a surge of after-hours calls. Culverts ran full, ditches overflowed, and gravel roads were carved out by rushing water. At least four or five roads were closed by Monday. Staff have been working to repair and rebuild damaged sections.

Potholes are another 'big challenge,' and a dedicated crew has been filling them across the township for over a week. The Mayor noted a striking detail: Public Works Supervisor Joel Newman told him the township has completely run out of traffic barrel pylons—'hundreds and hundreds of them'—because they're all deployed at road damage sites. Newman said it might be the first time since the building was constructed that there are no barrels left in storage.

Perau said he plans to bring a report to council in April detailing the man-hours dedicated to winter operations over the past two seasons, including the 2025 ice storm and the heavy snow events in late 2025 and early 2026. The Mayor noted the township is 'fortunate' that rivers got away without major ice jam issues.

Councillor MacArthur asked Perau whether he'd prefer 'a warm weekend with melt or an ice storm.' Perau didn't answer directly, but the Mayor noted it's a 'triple threat' of weather damage, spring melt, and half-load restrictions all hitting at once. The Mayor also reminded council that the township is still waiting on delivery of a wheeled excavator—'sooner than later'—that would help with this kind of emergency work.

We've over this winter we've had about 8 to 10 ft of snow over the over the entire winter and it melted by 95% in about a day and a half.
— Director of Public Works

I had a brief conversation with Joel Newman who's our supervisor out there and he shared with me that we are completely out of our barrel pylons. like they are all used and we have hundreds and hundreds of them... he said it was a bit of a shocker to see that they're all out.
— Mayor

Economic development strategy consultant selected; public engagement to begin

Other · Minor

Council received a report confirming the selection of a consultant to lead the economic development strategy, funded in part by the Rural Ontario Development Program. The strategy will include public engagement and is expected to move forward shortly.

Community Economic Development Officer Brier Kelly reported that the township has selected a consultant for the economic development strategy through an invitational quote process. Three firms were invited; two submitted quotes that were 'pretty close.' Councillor Bean asked if there were only two firms in the region that do this work. Kelly clarified that three were invited, but only two responded with firm quotes as required by the procurement bylaw.

The project is partly funded by the Rural Ontario Development Program, which required the township to include hard quotes in the application. Kelly said the next step is to begin public engagement. No timeline was provided. Council received the report for information. No debate.

MTO has 'agreed' to lower speed limit on Highway 26 near Stayner, but hasn't said by how much or when

Infrastructure · Standard

Councillor Walker asked for an update on the long-sought speed reduction on Highway 26 between Centre Line Road and Stayner's east boundary. Staff said MTO verbally agreed in February to lower the 80 km/h limit, but hasn't confirmed the new speed or the limits of the zone. Staff are following up monthly.

Councillor Walker raised three outstanding issues under new business. The first: what's happening with the speed reduction on Highway 26 east of Stayner, where the limit is currently 80 km/h and the township has been asking for a reduction to 60.

Director of Public Works Dan Perau said he received word in early February from MTO's corridor management division that they've 'assessed the area and are in agreement to lower the speed in that zone.' But MTO hasn't provided details on what the new limit will be, or where exactly the reduced zone will start and end.

Perau said he's 'made myself notes to bother them once a month,' and sent a follow-up email the morning of the meeting. The Mayor said he's also been pursuing it through the Minister's office but hasn't had a recent response. No timeline. No commitment. Just an acknowledgement that MTO agrees in principle.

I received note from the MTO corridor management division that they have they've assessed the area and have and are in agreement to lower the speed in in that zone. Um they haven't given me as of yet a definitive answer of the limits of that speed reduction and what that reduction will be.
— Director of Public Works

Traffic lights at Grand Trunk and Highway 26 delayed again; developer waiting on MTO permit

Infrastructure · Standard

Councillor Walker asked about the status of traffic lights at Grand Trunk and Highway 26, which the developer committed to advance to spring 2026. Staff said the developer has the MTO encroachment permit but is still waiting for the building and land use permit, which MTO typically won't issue until mid-May after winter construction restrictions end.

Councillor Walker's second question: where are the traffic lights at Grand Trunk and Highway 26 that were supposed to be installed this spring?

The Mayor and CAO said they met face-to-face with the two developers responsible for the lights, who committed to moving ahead and said they don't expect the work to go past June. Director of Public Works Dan Perau added detail: the developer's engineer confirmed in mid-February that they have the MTO encroachment permit (which allows work in the road allowance) but are still waiting for the building and land use permit, which is required to actually do the work.

Perau said MTO typically won't issue that permit until after the winter construction season ends—usually mid-May. He also confirmed that the electrical components, light standards, and heads are 'readily available' and set aside for the project. Some concrete and curb work will also be required.

So: the lights are coming. Maybe. By June. If MTO issues the permit. And if the developer follows through.

Service Ontario still hasn't responded to request to confirm Stayner location staying open

Other · Minor

Councillor Walker asked whether Service Ontario or MPP Brian Saunderson has responded to the township's request for confirmation that the Stayner Service Ontario location isn't closing. The CAO said the township sent correspondence and the MPP said he'd follow up, but there's been no response.

Councillor Walker's third question: what's happening with Service Ontario in Stayner? The township was told by the MPP that Service Ontario was looking for a new location in Stayner and wasn't leaving, but nothing has happened since.

The CAO said Service Ontario received the township's correspondence but hasn't responded. He spoke to MPP Brian Saunderson a couple of weeks ago, who said he hadn't heard anything but would 'circle back.' Still nothing. The Mayor said to keep it on the list along with all the other unanswered requests to the province.