We reported in Waves III that Friends of Muskoka and other concerned residents were successful at convincing the Township of Muskoka Lakes (TMO) Committee of the Whole to ask District to include the Resort Village of Minett in their comprehensive Official Plan (OP) review. The District agreed. In his initial review of Minett policies, TML Director of Planning, David Pink, discovered that the policy set that has been in force for Minett for the past 10 years is the WRONG ONE! The policies that were supposed to be included in the Township Official Plan, policies that were drawn up after both the OMB ruling and significant public consultation, were never actually drafted into the OP. These policies were meant to include several development restrictions for the area, including a reduction in density, increased setbacks and naturalized shoreline buffers, etc.
It seems that this was an inadvertent mistake, however, councillors were understandably shocked and dismayed to hear this news and requested that staff look into this mess immediately.