Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) Ruling

The re-zoning of this property has a lengthy history from a previous application. From 1977 to 1986, this same property was at the center of a prolonged dispute between The Concerned Citizens of Halls Lake, Stanhope Township (the predecessor to Algonquin Highlands) and the property's former owners.

The Lake Association opposed a rezoning proposal to develop a mobile home park. After nine years of conflict, including a court trial that took place in the mid-1980s, the OMB specifically changed the original zoning from Residential to Shoreline Residential (SR2).

The Ontario Municipal Board, influenced by extensive scientific evidence, determined that this property's close proximity to the shoreline had an environmental sensitivity on Halls Lake that was equivalent to waterfront property, even though it did not directly abut the lake. As a result, they ordered the Township to change the zoning from Residential to Shoreline Residential.