Media Release: Stratford Town Council Meeting Summary (July 15, 2021)
Posted on 07/15/2021
Image of the map of the area which has been purchased for the new Stratford Community Campus

For Immediate Release: July 15, 2021

The following items were discussed at the regular monthly meeting of the Stratford Town Council held on Wednesday, June 14, 2021, and at the Special Council Meeting held on Thursday, July 15, 2021.

Reddin Meadows Rezoning

A resolution to rezone parcel numbers 1061175, 1061167 and 329011, (approx. 14.01 acres in total) from the Low Density Residential Zone (R1) to the Planned Unit Residential Development Zone (PURD) was defeated by a 3-2 vote, with one council member removing themselves from the vote due to a conflict of interest.

Home Occupation Text Amendment

Frist reading was held to amend the Town of Stratford Zoning and Development Bylaw, Bylaw #45, to allow for home occupation in a semi-detached dwelling.

Special Council Meeting: Second reading and adoption was held of the above amendment to Bylaw #45.

Official Plan and Landuse Map Amendments

An application received from SJ Murphy Planning and Consulting on behalf of the Town of Stratford, Ian Dalton, 101523 PEI Inc, Paul and Robert Farquharson, and Jane Farquharson and Doug Crossman for amendments to the Official Plan and Landuse Map where some of the subject area was previously located within Town boundaries, resulting in a request for changes in designation and zoning for those portions, while other portions have recently been annexed into the Town, requiring a process to assign new designations and new zoning and new provisions within the Official Plan regarding the Special Planning Area was approved by resolution.

The details of the proposed amendments are as follows:
The Town of Stratford Official Plan is amended by:
The addition of the following immediately after Clause 7.2(9)(a):
“b. Permit restaurants and lounges and other ancillary uses associated with recreation and
institutional uses.”
The addition of the following immediately after subsection 11.1.9 in the Official Plan:
“11.1.10 Special Planning Area

In going through the restructuring process to extend the Town’s boundaries by annexation, two new properties were brought under the planning and governance jurisdiction of the Town of Stratford. These two properties – a portion of PID 608141 and PID 814095 – were previously in an unincorporated area under provincial planning jurisdiction and have been subject to the Stratford Region Special Planning Area (SPA) rules under the Planning Act Subdivision and Development Regulations, section 63. The SPA regulations address subdivision and land use development in the rural areas directly adjacent to the major urban regions in the province. They were established to protect the rural agricultural areas from inappropriate urban scaled developments and as well as to prevent unsustainable unserviced suburban sprawl. The objectives of the SPA regulations are:

  • to minimize the extent to which unserviced residential, commercial and industrial development may occur;
  • to sustain the rural community by limiting future urban or suburban residential development and non-resource commercial and industrial development in order to minimize the loss of primary industry lands to non-resource land uses; and
  • to minimize the potential for conflicts between resource uses and urban residential, commercial and industrial uses.

In annexing the above-mentioned properties, the amendments to this Official Plan and zoning amendments to the Development Bylaw have been prepared in conformance with these objectives.

Under subsection 63(10) of the Planning Act Subdivision and Development Regulations, municipalities with official plans may elect to take a different approach to meeting the three SPA objectives rather than implementing the standards set out in the remainder of section 63. This alternate approach is subject to the municipality following all required processes and meeting all standards under section 7 of the Planning Act, permitting no more than 5 unserviced residential lots from any parcel existing on July 9, 1994, and meeting reporting requirements.

Notwithstanding that the subsection (10) exemption provides the Town with some flexibility to address the principles and objectives behind the SPA, which in many cases align with the community values relating to rural character and vibrant agricultural sector, the proposed use of the properties involve becoming fully serviced as they are developed, or in the case of PID 814095, further developed, meeting the SPA objective of minimizing the extent to which unserviced residential, commercial or industrial development may occur. Likewise, the development of serviced development within the Town boundaries will continue to protect the rural community beyond the Town limits, serving to release some of the pressure for housing lots and commercial/industrial lands. The regulation of the use of these properties through a professional municipal planning system meets the third objective of addressing land use conflicts.”

The addition of the following immediately after subsection Objective 3h in section 11.2 in the Official Plan:
“i. Ensure the development of any parcels subject to the Stratford Region Special Planning Area (SPA) rules under the Planning Act Subdivision and Development Regulations, is considered in the context of the three objectives in subsection 63(3) of those regulations, minimizing unserviced development, protecting rural communities by minimizing the loss of primary industry lands to non-resource land uses, and minimizing land use conflicts.”

The Town of Stratford Official Plan (2014) Schedule B, General Land Use Map, is amended by the following:
1. The land use designation of PID 814095 on the Bunbury Road shall be Residential.
2. The land use designation of the portion of PID 608141 indicated as Parcel I on Figure 1 shall be Institutional, hereby excluding it from its former designation of Agricultural.
3. The land use designation of the portion of PID 608141 indicated as Parcel II on Figure 1 shall be Institutional.
4. The land use designation of the portion of PID 608141 indicated as Parcel III on Figure 1 shall be Industrial.
5. The land use designation of the portion of PID 1086107 indicated as Parcel IV on Figure 1 shall be Institutional, hereby excluding it from its former designation of Agricultural.
6. The land use designation of the portion of PID 608141 indicated as Parcel V on Figure 1 shall be Residential.
7. The land use designation of the portion of PID 1086107 indicated as Parcel VI on Figure 1 shall be Residential, hereby excluding it from its former designation of Agricultural.
8. The land use designation of PID 190041 indicated as Parcel VII on Figure 1 shall be Residential, hereby excluding it from its former designation of Agricultural.

Text and Zoning Map Amendments

First reading was held to amend the Town of Stratford Zoning and Development Bylaw, Bylaw #45, to necessitate a text amendment to accommodate the potential range of proposed uses, including restaurants and lounges as secondary uses in the Public Service Institutional zone, related to the Community Campus properties, as well as the subject area, some of which was previously located within Town boundaries, resulting in a request for changes in designation and zoning for those portions, while other portions have recently been annexed into the Town, requiring a process to assign new designations and new zoning.

Special Council Meeting: Second reading and adoption was held.

SCADA System Upgrades

Council passed a resolution to award a tender for the Town’s SCADA system upgrades to Belanger Electric Ltd. in the amount of $181,096.25 (HST included). The project is funded at 50% through the Municipal Strategic Component (MSC) of the Gas Tax.

Disposition of Land

A resolution was approved for the Stratford Utility Corporation to dispose of 0.05 acres of land at PID 884908 which was formally used as a well to supply the Sundance Lane Water System and been decommissioned for several years. An independent appraiser was hired to determine the purchase price of the land and the adjacent property owners will consolidate it with PID 768846.

Switch Stratford Program

The policy and agreements to allow the Town of Stratford to implement a PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) program, known as Switch Stratford, were approved. The program has launched and residents can learn more at www.switchstratford.ca. There will also be an online information session held on Monday, July 26 at 6:30pm for potential participants to learn more and ask questions.


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For more information please contact:
Wendy Watts, Community & Business Engagement Manager
Phone: (902) 569-1995
Email: [email protected]

Printable version: Media Release - Stratford Town Council Meeting Summary (July 15, 2021)
Agenda
Recording: July 14, 2021 Meeting
Recording: July 15, 2021 Meeting