Prince Edward County council has voted to approve a zoning application for a Cherry Valley event venue that had been previously recommended to be denied.
During Tuesday’s council meeting, members of council voted to approve the application for the property at the corner of County Road 18 and Sandy Lane.
The request last came before the Planning and Development Committee during their meeting on Wednesday, where the committee voted to recommend it be denied after public outcry against the project. The main concern of surrounding residents is the excessive noise that would be generated by an event venue.
During council’s meeting on Tuesday, councillors received a deputation from Mark Peterson, a legal representative for the property owners, who spoke out against the previous recommendation to deny. He highlighted that municipal staff had previously recommended the zoning be approved, and announced the owner’s intent to fight any denial at the Ontario Land Tribunal.
During discussion of the application, Councillor Phil St-Jean put forward an amendment to require all recommendations from a previous noise study done on the site be incorporated into the site planning process.
“Given that that is what we heard from almost every resident, the issue was noise. I want noise to be controlled on this site to the best of our ability to address those concerns,” said Councillor St-Jean.
That amendment passed, and the motion to approve the zoning was passed as amended 6-5 in a recorded vote. Mayor Steve Ferguson and councillors Sam Branderhorst, Corey Engelsdorfer, Janice Maynard, and Brad Nieman were opposed.
