Well water and lot severances were a topic of debate during Thursday’s Committee of the Whole meeting in Prince Edward County.
Council members received a report from municipal staff, after a motion passed in March, to examine removing hydro-geological surveys from the requirements for rural lot severance to reduce barriers to housing development.
Staff presented the committee with their findings after reviewing the existing policies and the policies of surrounding municipalities. The presentation came with two recommendations. The first recommendation was to keep the requirement for the surveys with no changes, while the other proposed an amendment that would introduce separate criteria for lot severances where a house already existed on the property with a well.
Under the separate requirements, the existing well would have to be certified to meet certain flow, water level recovery, and water quality standards.
The report sparked vigorous debate in the council chamber.
Councillor David Harrison said that land owners should be able to easily sever existing homes.
“If I bought a house tomorrow that was on a lot, say, that was built 30 or 40, years ago, I wouldn’t have to go through all this,” said Councillor Harrison. “What actually the farmers applying for is a lot reduction, and I can see no way that these should not be almost as of right.”
Council voted to continue with the requirement for hydro-geological surveys, and directed staff to evaluate if other lot severance requirements can be relaxed.
