Today the KLRA filed an appeal of the new Gravenhurst Comprehensive Zoning By-law 2010-04, which was passed by Council on April 20.

While the by-law implements many improvements, there remains a significant gap that permits unreasonable redevelopment of waterfront properties.  This gap runs counter to important goals and policies articulated in the Gravenhurst Official Plan.

The issue is with existing residential structures that are close to the water’s edge.  The by-law, as written, could allow a small cottage to be expanded to approximately 4000 square feet on Kahshe and Bass Lakes.  Other lakes could see such expansion approach 10,000 square feet.  This could take place literally within spitting distance of the water. Even as the Town’s planners recommend moving new residential structures further from the water (30m), existing small residential structures, which may be just a couple of feet from the water, can be expanded radically.

Other controls in the by-law may reduce such sizes, but these controls alone are not seen as being effective in implementing Official Plan goals and policies that seek to protect the beauty and natural environment of Gravenhurst’s lakes and rivers.  To quote the Official Plan, “The aesthetic and environmental quality of the lakes shall be maintained and enhanced through land use planning and lake stewardship initiatives.”  While this is a quite general goal, other sections of the Plan are much more specific.

The draft by-law limited such expansion.  Council removed this limitation when passing the by-law.  While this may have been a good decision, since the wording of the limitation was far from perfect, it leaves redevelopment unchecked, a situation that isn’t acceptable to the KLRA.

The KLRA has been actively engaged on this topic for many years and will stay that way.  We have written to Council seeking to work immediately with the Town to craft a solution that best meets the needs of all constituents.  The appeal process could ultimately result in the Ontario Municipal Board needing to make a decision if one cannot be developed locally.  The KLRA would prefer to see the solution developed locally, quickly, and at minimum cost to the Town and our Association.

The KLRA is collaborating with other associations, including the Muldrew Lakes Cottagers’ Association (which has filed a similar appeal), to demonstrate how broadly important this issue is to Gravenhurst’s waterfront residents and to agree on principles that would guide improving the by-law.  At the moment, about 1000 waterfront residents are part of this, through their associations; this is expected to grow significantly as association meetings take place in the coming weeks

We are pleased to announce that you can now pay your KLRA dues online using our secure website.  Payment can be made using a credit card or through PayPal if you have an account with them.  Either way, it is quick, convenient and secure.

If your credit card includes a rewards program, using it to pay your KLRA dues is doubly rewarding!

For members whose renewals are due on July 1, 2010, we'll be sending an email reminder in May. 

at 705-645-7393 or stewardship@muskokaheritage.org

Here is more detailed information.

Volunteer to be a Master Steward

Do you love Muskoka?

Do you want to conserve Muskoka for your children?

Do you want to learn about Muskoka and meet new friends?

Volunteer and become a Master Steward!

Exciting news for 2010! The Muskoka Heritage Foundation and the Muskoka Watershed Council have collaborated to restart the Muskoka Stewardship Program. Volunteers are needed to be Master Stewards.

Do you love Muskoka and want to help conserve it for your children?

The Muskoka Stewardship Program will help landowners learn how to be good stewards of their property.

• A Desire to Help Conserve Our Shared Natural Resources

The Muskoka Stewardship Program will build on the success of previous programs. The original program enlisted the hundreds of Muskoka landowners in private land stewardship. The program was very successful and by 1996 there were 341 landowners voluntarily protecting more than 30,000 acres of diverse Muskoka landscape.

A Broad Interest in the Natural Environment

As a Master Steward you will be trained to visit conservation-minded landowners and provide them with resources that will help them protect the natural values of their property. Popular landowner inquiries to the program include forest management, native species gardening, wetland care, habitat protection, and well and septic awareness.

Master Stewards will be supported by:

• Master Steward training seminars and workshops that also provide valuable networking opportunities.

• •·         Social atmosphere with like-minded people.
• •·         Stewardship Resource Centre including print & online materials and expert professionals.
• •·         Reimbursement for mileage from property visits.

Provide On-Going Support to Landowners

The Muskoka Stewardship Program will establish an in-office library of resources for landowners as well as a database of useful websites and online resources. These resources will cover topics such as woodlot management, healthy shorelines, natural gardens, species at risk, fish and wildlife information, and species specific resources for flora in our watershed.

Enjoy Speaking with and Engaging People

Property owners will be recognized for their stewardship efforts. For smaller properties, landowners can take a stewardship pledge and receive a framable certificate. For larger properties, landowners will receive both the framable certificate and a gatepost sign that indicates their commitment to good stewardship of their property.

Conservation through Private Stewardship

The Muskoka Stewardship Program needs your help!

Here are some ways you can contribute to the success of this program:

• Become a Master Steward
• Participate as a landowner
• Spread the word about the program

The Muskoka Stewardship Program is funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation for 2010.

The Muskoka Stewardship Program will incorporate the Well-Aware program that has been active in Muskoka for the past 2 years. Well-Aware is a voluntary, confidential, non-regulatory program designed to educate landowners about caring for their wells. Trained staff will provide guided self-assessments for rural well owners.

Rebecca Francis is the Stewardship Coordinator at the Muskoka Heritage Foundation. Contact her by calling the Muskoka Heritage Foundation (705-645-7393) or at stewardship@muskokaheritage.org.

 

 

The KLRA has written to Gravenhurst Mayor John Klinck to applaud the open process used by the Town’s Development Services department in developing the new Comprehensive Zoning By-Law.  The process encouraged active involvement of community groups like the KLRA. 

Members of the Kahshe Lake Plan Implementation Committee attended several meetings, public and private, to provide input on successive drafts of the by-law.  George Lindsay spearheaded this effort, providing his analysis to other KLPIC members for review.  The new by-law, which is understandably quite complex, is to be presented soon to council for approval.  It contains a number of Kahshe Lake-specific regulations.  It is the culmination of a decade’s work by the KLRA, starting with the Kahshe Lake Study in 2000.

For the full text of the letter, click here.

The following was received from Rebecca Willison at the District of Muskoka.

 

From: Willison, Rebecca

Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 10:04 AM

To: Willison, Rebecca

Subject: 2009 Lake System Health Monitoring Program

The District Municipality of Muskoka administers a Lake System Health Monitoring Program that is comprised of recreational water quality monitoring, shoreline surveys, and technical assistance to lake associations interested in undertaking a volunteer based monitoring program.

The 2009 Lake System Health Monitoring Program Year End Report contains details of the monitoring program and the 2009 Data Report provides data for each lake monitored in 2009. Both reports are available on The District Municipality of Muskoka website at

http://www.muskoka.on.ca/siteengine/activepage.asp?PageID=231.

Lake Data Sheets for specific lakes can be downloaded from the Muskoka Water Web site at

http://www.muskokawaterweb.ca/1/1.1/Text.htm.

Any questions about the Lake System Health monitoring program may be directed to me by phone at 705-645-7393 or by email at rwillison@muskoka.on.ca.

Thank you,

Rebecca Willison, BSc.

Watershed Planning Technician

District Municipality of Muskoka

THe photographs that make up the Seven Wonders of Kahshe Lake can be seen by clicking here.

A summary of the survey conducted during the summer of 2009 is available in the Member Zone.  You must log on to view it.

Here is a link to the Gravenhurst Banner article by Allyson Snelling about the revised Gravenhurst ward boundaries: http://www.bracebridgeexaminer.com/article/148423

The KLRA community collected more than a quarter of the petition signatures necessary for this review to take place.

The Government of Ontario has implemented a ban on the use of cosmetic pesticides, the type commonly used to control weeds.  You can read more about the legislation, and the background for it, on the Ontario Website at http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/land/pesticides/.

Several years ago, Gary MacLean provided the following article, which has been on the KLRA Website.  The Government's ban is merely catching up with knowledge that has been in the public domain for a long time.

Pesticides (Part 1)
The following information is drawn from papers published by the Workers Health. & Safety Centre, The Toronto Star, World Wild Life, and the Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph.

What are pesticides?

Pesticides are substances designed kill, injure, repel and neuter living organisms that some have determined to be pests. These pests might include insects, plants, fungi, molds and/or rodents. The term pesticides refers to a wide range of products, including herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. They are available in a variety of formulations including sprays, dusts, powders, granulars, concentrates, liquids, pastes, pellets, pressurized products and tablets.

There are approximately 6,000 pesticide products registered for use in Canada. Most came into the market following the World War II. The World Wildlife Fund has calculated that at least 50 million kilograms of these products are used in Canada each year, at a reported value of one billion dollars a year. They are used in agriculture, in fish farming, in homes, in day cares, in parks and recreational fields, on residential lawns, on golf courses, on pets, and even on children to combat head lice. They are also used widely in industries such as food service and textile industries.

What are the health effects?

Acute or short-term effects of pesticides can result in the following:

Long term health consequences can also be devastating. A recent study of individuals newly diagnosed with Parkinson's disease has found that home pesticide use and exposure is associated with a substantially increased risk of developing this disease.

Previous studies have also found a relationship between pesticide exposure and neurological disorders, negative effects to the immune system, liver and kidney damage, respiratory ailments, infertility and cancers, including brain, lung, prostate and breast cancers.

How are children affected?

Children from conception to sexual maturity are most vulnerable to pesticides. The Environmental Health Committee of the Ontario College of Family Physicians report a higher incidence of leukemia, brain cancer and soft tissue sarcomas in children exposed to herbicides and insecticides. Emerging science has also linked wide variety of health problems in children to their parent's exposure to pesticides, including birth defects, premature birth, learning and behavioural problems.

Some Statistics:

To eliminate broadleaf weeds many people use a product containing 2-4-D. Here are some facts:

Municipalities have the right to implement by-laws protecting public health and safety. So ruled the Supreme Court of Canada last June (2001) in their landmark decision upholding a by-law passed in Hudson, Quebec that banned the cosmetic use of pesticides within municipal boundaries.

What is happening locally?

Pressed by health, safety and environmental activists many Canadian municipalities are not waiting for other government jurisdictions. They have already moved to protect their workers, environments and citizens by passing bylaws to reduce or outright ban the use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes. Most are limited to uses on public property, but with the recent Supreme Court ruling upholding a municipality's right to implement measures protecting the health of citizens, up to and including restrictions on private property, others are looking to broaden their approach.

 

Pesticides - Designed to Kill (Part 2)

by Gary MacLean The following information is drawn from papers published by the Workers Health & Safety Centre, The Toronto Star, World Wild Life and the Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph

Alternatives to Pesticides

Lawn Care:

If you must have a lawn you may avoid the use of dangerous pesticides by following these guidelines.

1.	Choose grasses or ground covers and plants that are well adapted to your general climate and that are suitable for the specific site.
2.	Mow the lawn frequently with sharp blades set as high as possible.
3.	Leave grass clippings on the lawn.
4.	Water (if you must) slowly and deeply, preferably in the evening.
5.	Use organic slow release fertilizers.
6.	Over-seeding is another important strategy. You can attain excellent results by casting a mix of drought-tolerant grub resistant grasses. eg. perennial rye with white clover. Mix the seed into soil and throw over existing lawn.
7.	Remove weeds by hand.

Insect infestations:

Ants: Apply bone meal or diatomaceous earth at the burrow opening. Encircle the point of entry with a line of red chili powder, paprika or dried peppermint leaves. Diatomaceous earth is the material used in swimming pool filtration systems. A caution when using this material- it also kills butterflies, honeybees and other beneficial insects.

Aphids: In a blender, mix garlic, green onions and half a teaspoon of Tabasco sauce. Strain and mix with soapy water. Spray the garden, wait a half and hour and rinse off affected plants.

Slugs, snails or earwigs: Place a dish of stale beer in the garden. Insects will enter and drown.

Grubs: Spray lawn with soapy water and turn over areas of sod infested with grubs allowing birds to eat them. Alternatively, apply nematodes, a natural predator of grubs, to the affected areas.

Fungus control: Use natural methods such as compost. There is a general movement to ban insecticides and herbicides for cosmetic purposes throughout Muskoka. The Town of Gravenhurst is doing their part by not using pesticides on Town-owned parks and properties. They are accomplishing their goals by over-seeding and the use of natural compost.

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Are you doing your part? Remember that these chemicals can exist in the ground (as well as in your living room rug) for a long time . They also enter the water table and run off into steams, gutters and eventually the lake. These poisons and nutrients can only cause damage to the natural state of our lakes.