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Township of Woolwich Committee of the Whole Agenda Tuesday, October 6, 2020 7:00 p.m. Video Conference with YouTube Live Stream Hosted in Council Chambers Chair: Councillor Scott McMillan 1. Public Resolution to Move into Closed Session - (5:45 P.M. in Council Chambers) That the Council of the Township of Woolwich convenes in closed session on Tuesday, October 6, 2020 in Council Chambers via Zoom in accordance with Section 239 (2) (b) and (f) of the Municipal Act for discussions including personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees and advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose (Personal and Legal Matters). 2. Resolution to Reconvene in Open Session (7:00 P.M. in Council Chambers) 3. Disclosures of Pecuniary Interest 4. Items to Come Forward from Closed Session 5. Planning Public - 7:00 P.M. 5.1 D29-2020: Planning Public Information Report - Chicken Coops in Residential 1 Zones 5.1.1 Delegates: Voicu Goga and Victoria Steadman 13 6. Presentations 7. Delegations 7.1 DS27-2020: Zone Change Application 8/2018 and Official Plan Amendment 21 3/2018 - Stevanus Developments 7.1.1 Delegate: Megan Gereghty, GSP 8. Unfinished Business 9. Consent Items Items listed under the Consent Agenda are considered routine, and are enacted in one motion in order to expedite the meeting. However, any Council member may request one or more items to be removed from the Consent Agenda for separate discussion and/or action. 9.1 Items for Approval 9.1.1 C27-2020: Elmira Drain 1 Block Assessments 51 9.2 Items for Information 10. Staff Reports and Memos 10.1 C20-2020: Wyatt Street Lease Agreement Renewal 54 10.2 C25-2020: Grants Budget 65 10.3 IS21-2020: Sprucelawn Storm Sewer Agreement 68 11. Other Business 12. Outstanding Activity List, as of Friday, October 2, 2020 93 13. Correspondence 13.1 City of Kitchener Resolution - Supporting News Media 98 13.2 City of Kitchener Resolution - Safe Supply Initiatives 100 13.3 Region of Waterloo Transportation and Environmental Services: Water 103 Services Correspondence - Recommendations for the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) on Proposed Changes to Ontario's Water Quantity Management Framework 14. Public Notice 15. Notice of Closed Meetings 16. Notice of Motion 17. Adjournment Due to COVID-19, members of the public are not able to attend this meeting in-person. This meeting is being live streamed to the Woolwich Township YouTube account and a recording will be published following the meeting. To submit comments or participate in the meeting or if you have any questions about the content or outcome of this meeting, please contact the Council and Committee Facilitator at 519-669-6004 or [email protected] 1 Development Services Staff Information Report REPORT: DS29-2020 MEETING DATE: October 6, 2020 LOCATION: Virtual/ Council Chambers MEETING TIME: 7:00 p.m. 24 Church Street West, Elmira SUBJECT ZONE CHANGE APPLICATION: ZC 7/2020 (Township of Woolwich) - To amend Section 6.4 g) by deleting chickens from the list of prohibited animals but retaining the other fowl and non-domestic pets. ANIMAL CONTROL BY-LAW: To amend by-law to permit and regulate the keeping of chickens in a rear yard of a residential property. LOCATION: Residential lands within a settlement boundary within the Township of Woolwich. OFFICIAL PLAN DESIGNATION: Urban, Residential and Ancillary Use, and Residential Neighbourhoods CURRENT ZONING: All Residential Zones and the Settlement Commercial zones EXPLANATION OF PROPOSAL: The Township of Woolwich has initiated a review of the current Animal Control By-law and the Comprehensive Zoning By-law to consider amendments to permit backyard chicken coops on residential zoned lands in the Township. LEGAL NOTICES DATE OF NEWSPAPER NOTICE: September 10, 2020 DATE OF WEBPAGE NOTICE: September 10, 2020 DATE OF PUBLIC MEETING: October 6, 2020 14324850222,,,DS_29_2020_Planning_Public_Information_Report_Chicken_Coops_in_Residential_Zones.DOC 2 COMMENTS Proposed Zoning By-law Amendment Section 6.4 of the Township’s Zoning By-law regulates the use of detached accessory buildings, and Section 6.4 g) prohibits the keeping of various animals as noted below: The housing, breeding or raising of animals for commercial purposes shall be prohibited. Accessory Building(s) may permit the keeping of ordinary domestic household pets, but not including horses, cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, geese or other fowl or any exotic pets identified in the Township of Woolwich’s Exotic Pet By- law 86-95, as amended. (By-law 83-2006 passed November 28, 2006 (General Amendment)) The Township is considering an amendment to Section 6.4 g) by deleting chickens from the above noted list of prohibited animals but retaining the other fowl and non-domestic pets. By deleting chickens from this list, the proposed amendment would allow chickens in detached residential accessory buildings, including those within residential zones in all the settlements in the Townships. Accessory buildings would still be required to meet zoning regulations and additional regulations for the keeping of chickens would be contained in the Animal Control By-law as noted above. The potential amendment to the Zoning would be only one portion of how to address permitting hens and the Township’s Animal Control By-law also needs to be amended accordingly. These regulations in the Animal Control By-law would be for the protection of the neighbours and the community. Proposed Animal Control By-law Amendment If chickens are to be permitted on residential zoned lands a number of amendments to the Animal Control By-law are proposed to address potential concerns including, but not limited to, limiting the number of chickens to 4 or fewer, hens only (over 4 months of age to ensure they are hens and not roosters), regulating the coop and run for animal health, requiring maintenance standards to reduce potential rodent and odour issues, and restricting the location of the coop. Hens would only be for personal use and it is proposed that no egg or manure sales would be permitted. Additionally, implementation of a registry and license process would be recommended. This regulation would suggest that a residential property must be 400 square metres or larger to have hens and would be subject to meeting all the other proposed regulations. Background As the issue is complex and impacts two departments, staff compiled the attached background document for the public and Council’s consideration. The backgrounder outlines potential changes to the Zoning By-law, but more so the Animal Control By-law in terms of proposed regulations. Also contained in the background document are a list of pros and cons to allowing chickens. The report also outlines potential costs for enforcement and licensing chickens that is likely to result if the keeping of chickens is permitted. 14324850222,,,DS_29_2020_Planning_Public_Information_Report_Chicken_Coops_in_Residential_Zones.DOC 3 Survey To help in soliciting comments on this matter staff posted a survey on the Township’s website for residents. Notice of the survey was done through the newspaper, website and social media. The survey will be available until November 1, 2020 and the final recommendation report will provide a detailed summary of the comments. As of September 23, 149 surveys had been completed, mostly by residents in Elmira (64%), Breslau (10%) and Conestogo (9%). General support for chickens in residential areas o There was 70% support for generally allowing chickens in residential areas o 28% generally did not support chickens o 3% of respondents were undecided Support for detached homes o 88% of respondents supported allowing chickens in detached (single family) homes o There was less support for both semi-detached homes (40%) and townhouses (24%) o Total responses to this question do not equal 100% because respondents were able to select multiple responses Support for allowing hens only o 73% of respondents suggested that only hens should be allowed o 18% supported allowing both hens and roosters o 9% were undecided Number of chickens o Responses to the number of chickens was mixed o 16% of responses suggested there should be no limit o 9% were undecided o Of the responses who selected a number, the average selected 4.9 chickens Less support for licencing o 36% of respondents supported a licencing requirement o 61% suggested enforcement should be complaint based Support for setbacks from neighbours o Most respondents wanted some setbacks from neighbours o 37% said setbacks should be small o 43% said they should be as large as possible o A small number of respondents (16%) suggested there should be no setbacks Other types of foul o A small majority (52%) of respondents thought this amendment should only apply to chickens o 37% thought this should be applied to other types of foul like ducks, geese and quail o 11% were undecided These are preliminary results since the survey remains open. Staff note that this is not a statistically valid survey since responses were “self-selected” by those who chose to respond. 14324850222,,,DS_29_2020_Planning_Public_Information_Report_Chicken_Coops_in_Residential_Zones.DOC 4 There was space for general written comments at the end of the survey. Staff reviewed the written comments can advise of the following themes: There were several comments thanking Council for reviewing this while others suggested this should not be considered and questioned the use of resources Many people justified their response and/or provided more detail, including: o Concerns with the proposal included: . Noise (particularly with roosters) . Smell . Waste and waste disposal . Attracting predators (rodents, rats, foxes) and pests (flies, mites, lice) . Ensuring appropriate enclosures which are kept clean . The ability to care for chickens humanely, allowing room to roam . No sales, residents already have access to farm-fresh eggs o Suggested benefits included: .