1 December 8, 2020 Council of the Township of North Kawartha 280

December 8, 2020 Council of the Township of North Kawartha 280 Burleigh Street North Kawartha, Ontario K0L 1A0 Dear Members of Council: Thank you for taking the time to review my delegation to Council regarding North Kawartha’s Zoning Bylaw, with respect to the use of shipping containers as Accessory Buildings for home occupations. Some of you may be familiar with myself and my husband, Clay Cook. We own the company Apsley Roofing & Exteriors, which we operate from our home address. We have two shipping containers on our property, which house tools and materials reQuired for our business. We had the containers set on built-up gravel in our roundabout driveway area, beside a forested region, set back from property lines. In September, we received an Order to Comply, reQuiring us to remove the containers. I met with Travis Toms on September 9, 2020 to discuss our situation, and expressed my concerns about our inability to remove the containers by the deadline or pay the $1,500.00 Municipal Fee for a Zoning Amendment, followed by another $2,000.00 or so for Site Plan Control. We are looking at fees of up to $4,000.00 to pursue remediation. I’m astonished that the Township is targeting such petty bylaw infractions during the current global pandemic. So many families, like us, are struggling just to get by. I understand that the Township has sought to provide residents with relief in some ways considering this year’s hardships, such as interest-free property tax payment extensions, and not pursing annual Tax Sales. The township is clearly looking the other way on enforcement of Property Standards. Why then, at this horrible time, is the Township targeting residents for a trivial infraction like the tail end of a container being visible from the road, on an otherwise well-kept entrance? I was initially told by Travis Toms that the Township was targeting everyone that has shipping containers on their property. However, I later learned that the Township isn’t on a blitz after all; rather, it was the choice of the bylaw representative to pursue our infraction. 1 I’m wholeheartedly disappointed, and frankly a bit sickened, that shipping containers appear to be the Township’s priority, when many of us are struggling to even get by. North Kawartha is home to an abundance of business owners, primarily in or supporting trades. Many reside on Rural zoned properties, and use shipping containers to store tools of the trade. With so many trades in our community, why are shipping containers, specifically, prohibited in the Zoning bylaw? It’s not logical. Shipping containers are structurally superior to many of the allowable structures in our Township (i.e. garage canopies/dome tents, plastic sheds, etc.). Containers can withstand North Kawartha’s heavy snow loads and fierce windstorms. Containers have lockable doors, thereby keeping contents secure. And, containers are an affordable, accessible option, versus the high and often unfeasible costs associated with building a garage. No representative with whom I’ve spoken has been able to answer this Question. I would like to respectfully submit that Council create a Housekeeping Amendment to North Kawartha’s Zoning Bylaw, that would permit shipping containers as an allowable structure to be used as Accessory Buildings for home occupations (i.e. a roofing company’s storage of tools and non-toxic materials) in Rural designated zones. According to the Ontario Building Code Act, when a shipping container is no longer used for its original purpose and is permanently placed on private property for use as storage, it is then considered to be a building as defined in the Act. When a shipping container becomes a building and it occupies an area greater than 10 square meters, a Building Permit is required. Why can’t North Kawartha follow the lead of other municipalities – including Wollaston, Highlands East, Trent Lakes, City of Kawartha Lakes, Tudor & Cashel, and Town of the Blue Mountains, to name a few – that permit shipping containers as Accessory Buildings, so long as they comply with the building permit reQuirements? This would be a fair solution to North Kawartha’s current case-by-case approach, reQuiring a costly Municipal Fee of $1,500.00 for a Zoning Amendment, followed by another $2,000.00 or so for Site Plan Control, for every applicant. Thank you for allowing me to submit this delegation. I look forward to discussing this with you on December 15, 2020. Sincerely, Alyssa Cook . 2 .

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