The Town of Innisfil held a special planning meeting on Wednesday evening, to hear a Zoning Bylaw Amendment application that would allow private sheds within the Sandycove Acres retirement village.
The amendment was put forward by the town itself, with the support of Sandycove owner and operator, Parkridge Lifestyle Communities Inc.
In 1983, the town's Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw zoned Sandycove Acres village, located at 908 and 983 Lockhart Road, as Residential Special Community (RSC) - a zone that allows only “one home… and no accessory building or structure” on each leased lot.
The restriction has been in place since 1983, but was unknown to community residents, and unenforced – until recently. Up until 2020, Sandycove Acres management had issued permits for private sheds, under their own fairly strict guidelines.
The sudden enforcement of the ban led to complaints from residents, and action on the part of council – and on Wednesday night, Toomaj Haghshenas, Development Co-ordinator with the Town of Innisfil, presented a proposed update to an “outdated” bylaw.
The amendment would allow one accessory shed per land lot, “subject to certain regulations,” Haghshenas said. Those regulations include:
. A minimum five metre distance between an accessory shed and any interior road or street line.
. A minimum three metre distance between the accessory shed and any other structure or home.
. A maximum height of four metres or the height of the home, whichever is less.
. A maximum size of 20 sq. m., with maximum site coverage (by home and accessory shed) not to exceed 40 percent. The current maximum coverage is 35 percent.
Haghshenas told council that numerous comments and emails had been received. “We have received a lot of support for allowing personal sheds,” he said, but there were also a number of concerns expressed.
Many residents suggested that both the maximum size of 20 sq. m. and maximum height proposed are excessive. Staff are looking at reducing those maximums, Haghshenas acknowledged – for example, reducing the maximum shed footprint to 15 sq. m.
Haghshenas explained that, once the bylaw is amended, Sandycove residents will be able to apply to Parkridge for a site alteration permit, for the installation of a private shed. If the structure is under 10 sq. m. in size, no building permit is required, and Parkridge will handle the details.
If the structure is over 10 sq. m., a building permit will be required from the town.
Overall, he said, staff feel that the Zoning Bylaw Amendment represents “reasonable land use, subject to proposed regulations.”
Coun. Alex Waters asked why 20 sq. m. had been chosen as the maximum footprint. “Is that just standard size?”
Senior Planner Steve Montgomery noted that elsewhere, the Zoning Bylaw permits accessory sheds up to 30 sq. m., but “we thought that was too large for Sandycove Acres.” Since sheds under 10 sq. m. don’t need a building permit, staff chose a number “in the middle.”
Coun. Donna Orsatti, once employed at Sandycove Acres, expressed “great concern” with both the maximum area and height proposals. “Most of the properties can’t accommodate that,” she said, noting that the leased lots tend to be small in size, and much of the land is held in common.
Sandycove resident Joe Libralesso raised another concern. While commending Council for bringing forward the amendment – “Definitely this will clear the air concerning this issue,” he said – Libralesso objected to the proposed three metre minimum setback from other structures.
“Three metres… doesn’t provide for a lot of fire separation,” he warned. “These sheds of course contain, in addition to all of the machinery – the lawnmowers, the snowblowers, the power washers – a lot of fuel-burning equipment, and basically I’m really concerned about fire safety.”
He proposed a setback “well beyond three metres.”
Representatives of Parkridge also attended the Zoom meeting. When Sandycove manager Tina Whitaker was unable to participate, due to technical difficulties, Stephen Parsons stepped in to say, “We fully support the city on the by-law.”
He explained that Sandycove has always set the standard shed size as 10 feet by 10 feet, although sheds of up to 15 sq. m. have been permitted, and that there are height standards in place.
“We want to make sure we’re not getting too excited about our sheds,” Parsons said. “We have our own policies and procedures… but we fully support the bylaw.”
No decision was made at the meeting. Instead, comments and concerns have been referred to staff for review, and a further recommendation to council at a future date.
Mayor Lynn Dollin said there are hopes that the report will come back to council at the June 23 meeting. “This is lightning speed, for this kind of thing,” she noted, adding that the public can still comment, until then, by contacting [email protected]
Mayor Dollin also noted that Sandycove Acres is represented by Ward 6 Coun. Carolyn Payne, who is currently on a medical leave of absence, “but we’re all taking up the cause, and taking care of residents in her ward.”
