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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's Not."
- The Lorax
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(Press  to return to this index)
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MINETT OFFICIAL PLAN RETURNS TO PLANNING COMMITTEE
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Township of Muskoka Lakes Planning Committee is meeting at 9 am on Monday October 25th to discuss what could be final changes to the Minett Official Plan policy. Details available here (see Agenda item 5).
We’ve come a long way since we raised the alarm and came together in 2018, when plans to develop Minett were emerging.
Council froze development in Minett for an appropriate review of what was approved many years ago. We stopped this:
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Our activism caught the interest of Mr. Goldhar, a cottager, who stepped in and bought the property.
Mr Goldhar agreed last year to reduce density on his lands in Minett from about 4,000 to 2,000 units, and he has said he will only build 500 units.
Over 2,000 people filled in our survey (thank you!) and told Mr. Goldhar that 2,000 units is still too much. Mr. Goldhar has agreed to reduce the density by a further 15%, an additional 300 units, to 1,700, for which we are grateful.
Is it still too much? Yes. But this is likely the best we will do, given the previous owners already had approval to build thousands more. This highlights why our community has to stay engaged, as it’s hard to go back once development permissions are granted.
Mr Goldhar has also agreed to:
- A definition of a unit as being 850 square feet, so if a resort suite is larger, it counts as 2 or more units
- more restrictive owner usage criteria (more availability to the vacationing public and less risk of the area becoming a residential enclave like Legacy and Villas)
- a reduction from 50% to 30% in the number of units allowed to be sold as residences
- limits on owner use of docks to have more available to the general public
Council listened to our community and made the policies stronger:
- stricter commercial criteria and requirement for onsite management for the resort
- a hard cap on the number of boat slips in Minett
- building height reduced from 11 to 5 storeys (4 would be better!!)
- staff housing located in Minett
- removal of non-Red Leaves lands (approx 150 acres) from the resort village, reducing future development potential
- requirement for Legacy Cottages and the Marriott to connect to municipal water and wastewater services when available
This is a VAST improvement from 2018.
There are still some policies we would like to see strengthened. We will keep working to ensure your voices are heard.
Please consider joining us at the meeting on October 25th at 9 am. Your attendance is noted and meaningful. You may also send an email or letter to planning@muskokalakes.ca.
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ATTEND A VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE FOR THE TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES OFFICIAL PLAN
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The Township of Muskoka Lakes has released its second draft Official Plan for public comment. They want to know what the public thinks about its proposals. Our views will impact which policies will be approved, which policies will not and details of policies.
The Official Plan sets out our community’s vision for how land is used and developed in the Township. It will govern land use decisions for the next decade, so it is very important that we get it right.
The draft Official Plan includes significant changes to policies that may affect you, including increased minimum sizes for new waterfront lots, greater oversight for development, new conditions for the creation of new island lots, restrictions on new lots for lakes with deteriorating water quality, and many others. Many policies governing what you can build on your property are not changing. See below for more details.
Please attend a Virtual Open House to hear a presentation on the proposed Official Plan policies, ask questions and discuss with the Township’s staff and consultant:
- Thursday October 28th from 3pm – 4:30pm
- Friday October 29th from 10am - 11:30am
You must register here to attend a Virtual Open House.
Read the upcoming FOM/MLA Report
Friends of Muskoka and the MLA are reviewing the draft OP with our professional advisers and will be circulating a report to help you understand the proposals and their impact on you.
When and how to provide comments on the draft OP proposals
After attending the Virtual Open House and reviewing the MLA/FOM report, you will have information that will help you to complete the Township’s online survey which is available here. You must register before taking the survey and are not able to retake it – so only click ‘submit’ at question 32 when you are comfortable with your answers. Don’t worry, there are not 32 questions – there are 16 with optional comment boxes!
The survey is open until November 24, 2021.
Some of the proposed changes:
- Increases to the minimum water frontage and lot area for new waterfront lot creation to help protect the environment and limit built form on the shoreline
- Restrict creation of new lots on lakes that the District of Muskoka has classified as having significantly declining water quality, until the cause of the decline can be determined
- Implement the District’s directive for site plan control by requiring site plan agreements for most new development on the waterfront, giving the Township input into location of structures and site alteration (eg. blasting and tree removal)
- Establish a maximum permitted area for amenities (eg. patios, sport courts, hot tubs)
- Require 75% of a lot to be left in an unaltered and natural state, to help protect the environment and natural character of Muskoka
- Restrict creation of new lots on 50 small and medium sized lakes where ‘recreational carrying capacity’ has been exceeded
- Require deeded access on the mainland for parking and docking when a new island or water access lot is created
- Continue the current requirement that the main floor of a boathouse only be used for storage of boats, boating equipment, a small washroom and fish-cleaning station
- Encourage commercial resorts to remain commercial by requiring each resort unit to be in a mandatory rental pool for tourists, and requiring on-site resort amenities/services and management
- Discourage new commercial resort development and resorts with condominium ownership
- Facilitate resorts being converted to less intensive uses where justified (such as struggling resorts converting to residential)
- Remove limitations on the number of rural lots that can be created
Some policies that are not changing:
Please note that there is no change proposed for many policies governing what you can build on your property, including:
- No proposed change to grandfathering rules allowing rebuilding and enlarging existing structures that are closer than the permitted setbacks
- No proposed change to the size of cottages, sleeping cabins or boathouses you can build
- No proposed change to the setbacks from the water or sideyards
- No proposed change to 10% lot coverage for roofed buildings
Where can you find the draft Official Plan?
The 200+ page draft Official Plan is available on the Township’s Engage Muskoka web page here, where you can also subscribe to receive updates from the Township.
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COME OUT TO MUSKOKA’S OKTOBERFEST!
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Any Friends of Muskoka (FOM) who are going to be in the region this week or weekend, or any who are simply Fans of Beer (FOB), may want to check out Muskoka’s Oktoberfest today through Saturday. The extraordinary ten piece rock band named My Son the Hurricane will play at the popular Muskoka Beer Spa on Saturday night.
It should be a lot of socially-distanced and responsibly-driven fun.
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Friends of Muskoka are a group of dedicated volunteers working to protect and to preserve the natural environment and unique character of Muskoka by promoting responsible use and development of its land and lakes. Friends of Muskoka believe that the environment IS the economy in Muskoka since millions of people come to Muskoka and invest here because of its clean water and natural, treed shorelines. Our lakes, forests and rivers are a resource that can drive Muskoka’s economy for decades to come if we put the environment first. To this end, Friends of Muskoka is trying to stop residential subdivisions on the waterfront in Muskoka and will work to enshrine sustainable development in the Municipal and District Official Plans.
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You can help Friends of Muskoka to protect and to preserve the natural environment and unique character of Muskoka by promoting responsible use and development of its land and lakes.
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Click here and bookmark our constantly updated calendar of events or click here to download and import / subscribe to the Friends of Muskoka calendar in your desktop or phone calendar application.
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