Crane Lake Resort - July Update

Crane Lake Resort Changes - July Update

As you may know, the Township of the Archipelago held a Public Hearing at Crane Lake Resort on July 15th, 2016, facilitated by Township Staff, primarily Cale Henderson, the Manager of Development & Environmental Services for the TOA. The proposed changes to the resort required both The Council of the Township of the Archipelago and The Archipelago Area Planning Board to be involved.

Staff have committed to communicating updates to us on a regular basis, and we encourage property owners to visit the following official site for all information: http://www.thearchipelago.on.ca/index.php/departments/planning/condo.

Community members should take advantage of the opportunity to communicate any questions or concerns to the Township's Planner, Cale Henderson (chenderson at thearchipelago.on.ca) or to our local Councilor, Ian Mead. 

The following is only a brief overview of our notes from the meeting and should not be treated as public record. It was also made clear that changes are ongoing and the information below must not be considered final, however we have done our best to summarize the information shared on July 15th: 

Updated Proposal

In very simple terms, the proposal for the Crane Lake Resort lands can be summarized as follows: 

1. Condominiums - Existing structures on the Crane Lake Resort grounds would be converted to 18 residential condominiums for purchase by individuals for their private, residential use. This includes the fourteen existing cottages and conversion of the office and the restaurant/lodge structure.
2. Severance of Lands - The proposal includes the intent to sever a portion of the current property for commercial marina purposes. 
3. Rezoning - Because of the proposed changes in use to the property, there are zoning changes required. 

At the Hearing, Staff of the TOA advised that the Applicant had recently submitted amendments to their initial proposal, designed to take into consideration some initial feedback received from community members. The updated drawings are shown below: 

As can be seen, these updated drawings reflect the more recently proposed changes to the perimeter of the property to be severed from the Resort property to be used for the purposes of operation of a Marina. The revised proposal appears to accommodate certain community concerns already expressed:

1. Docks - The change now includes on the Marina property at least one dock for each water-access property on the lake 
2. Parking - The parking spaces by the water now allow one car for each dock. Additional parking areas have been added to the plans in the back area of the Marina property to be used for parking of additional family vehicles, trailers, etc.
3. Marina Operation Space - These revised drawings accommodate future expansion of the Marina operations.
4. Resort/Lodge Structure - The updated proposal indicates that the structure currently containing the restaurant/meeting hall will be left 'as-is' for the time being for community/Condominium Corporation use. If the proposal is accepted, the permission will allow for future conversion of the restaurant/meeting hall into condominium units if required. 
5. Access Road - The new drawings reflect a new access road for the Condominium properties. This new access for the Condominium properties requires a right-of-way over the proposed marina severance and would require that Township also convert at least that portion of Crane Walker Road into a year-round maintainable road.The existing entrance to the resort will now be to the proposed Marina property only. 

These drawings are the most recent available at the moment, but should not be treated as final. 

Official Plan Amendment & Zoning Bylaws

The Official Plan limits properties to single detached dwellings intended for residential use. It also prevents the severance of property on Crane Lake, in the interest of limiting future development. In order for this proposal to proceed, Council's role is to review proposed changes to the Official Plan and to Zoning Bylaws with respect to the lands in question. Specifically, they are to consider the conversion of the existing resort into an 18-unit standard, residential condominium; to allow the severance of the marina lands from the property; and to rezone the Resort lands to facilitate the condo conversion and marina severance and to change some portion of the Natural State lands to be used for Marina Business.  

The Planning Board is responsible for reviewing the proposed severance of the marina lands from the property and for granting the right-of-way to the resort. 

Timeline

The following is the timeline for this process, as advised by the Township: 

• March 18th, 2016 - Applicant formally completes the submission, officially beginning the formal process. 
• April 2nd, 2016 - Notice of Proposal mailed to properties within 1km of Resort and posted to TOA website. 
• June 2nd, 2016 - Notice of Public Meeting for July 15th. 
• June 15th, 2016 - Public Meeting
• Fall 2016 - Council and Planning Board review the Applicant materials, correspondence from the community, and other information and make formal decision. 
• If approved, the Applicant will have 1 - 3 years to fulfill any conditions of the approval that may be imposed by Council or the Planning Board. 
• Upon completion of conditions, Condominiumization would be finalized.