City at odds with County over cross-border servicing
Article content
What began with the failure of a septic system in Norwich Township has turned into a dispute between the City of Woodstock and the County of Oxford over cross-border servicing.
Woodstock city council voted 5 to 1 Thursday night to file an injunction to prevent a Norwich Township family from crossing borders and hooking into Tillsonburg’s wastewater system. Council also approved $30,000 to cover the necessary legal expenses.
Mayor Pat Sobeski said the connection contravenes the county’s official plan, which prohibits cross-border servicing, and that such an exception could set a precedent that might damage Woodstock’s ability to market lands within the boundaries of the city.
“Cross-border servicing has always been an issue here in the City of Woodstock,” said Sobeski. “Although this is in Tillsonburg, it is indeed a Woodstock issue because we are involved in other areas across (the county).”
Sobeski’s fear is that if developers can build outside the city and still tap into the city’s services, it would make more expensive city lands less desirable.
Coun. Jim Northcott agreed with the mayor, expressing similar fears about setting an unwanted precedent.
“I was wondering at first why Woodstock was going to spend $30,000 to fight this,” said Northcott. “But where we’re located … developers want to hook into our system. If we let one go in the south side, then it creates a precedent that it can happen in the north side of town or anywhere else in the county.
“So I think, unfortunately, we have to spend our money if we want to be diligent in keeping things on track and keeping to the official plan.”
The lone “no” vote came from Coun. Sandra Talbot, who said council should consider each individual case separately and, that in this particular case, cross-border servicing made sense.
“I think you have to take each one on its merit and use good common sense and judgment,” said Talbot. “In instances like this, where you have people whose system has failed and they have a pipe right in their front yard, common sense tells me that they should be allowed to hook into that.
“We have neighbours and we have to occasionally help our neighbours out, just like they help us out. That’s why we have a County of Oxford and the City of Woodstock is a part of it.”
Deb Tait, a councillor on both city and county councils, originally voted in favour of the connection at the county level, but admitted that was a mistake and supported the mayor’s motion for an injunction.
“At county council, I did vote in favour of this, and I’d like to say that I did make a mistake,” said Tait. “After speaking with the CAO and understanding all of the ramifications, it’s not just one small little thing, it’s actually way bigger than that.
“This is a very, very big issue. It may be one homeowner, but we can’t look at each one individually.”
Cross-border servicing has been an ongoing issue in Oxford County, and came about in this instance when the Brindley family, living on the border between Norwich Township and Tillsonburg, asked for the county’s help in dealing with a broken septic system. Backups from their septic tank over the past year resulted in extensive damage to their basement, inconveniences in their daily life and health concerns for the four family members living in the house.
“It was really hard dealing with it all because you have the septic backing up into the house,” said Tara Brindley, who owns the home with her husband Mike Brindley. “We were only able to do maybe one or two loads (of laundry) during the week, we had to watch how many times we had a shower and how many times we turned the dishwasher on. It was just a headache.”
In response to the family’s application, county council voted on May 28 to allow the connection, contrary to a recommendation from staff and in spite of Sobeski urging council to adhere to the official plan. Once approved by council, county staff went out to the Brindleys’ home on Thursday to connect the home to Tillsonburg’s wastewater system, much to the family’s delight.
“It feels great obviously. Within a half an hour of it all being hooked up and the septic tank being unhooked, there was no more sewer smell in my basement,” said Brindley. “That headache is gone, and thank goodness.”
The Brindleys’ troubles may not be over, however, as Sobeski said that the fact the family is now connected will not stop the city from pursuing legal action.
“We’ll still continue with our (process), and we’ll wait for a ruling,” said Sobeski. “If the ruling goes against them, then the county will have to unhook them I guess.”
County CAO Peter Crockett confirmed that disconnecting the family’s home is a possibility if the City of Woodstock is successful in court. In addition to disagreeing on whether to provide cross-border servicing in this case, Woodstock and the county also differ on how the application should have been handled in the first place.
Sobeski said because cross-border servicing runs contrary to the official plan – which governs all planning decisions across the county – the county should have moved for an amendment to the official plan, which would then allow the city to appeal the decision to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).
Because the county chose not to go that route, the city’s only course of action to stop the connection was to seek an injunction and let the issue play out in court.
“In this particular case they ignored what the Planning Act says,” said Sobeski. “The Planning Act says that if you want to do a hookup, you have to do it through an official plan amendment. What they’re trying to do is they’re trying to avert the opportunity for someone to appeal a decision.”
Crockett, however, said that county council has the authority to interpret county policies, including the official plan, and they determined the connection was “consistent with the intent of the official plan” and therefore did not require an amendment.
“There was no discussion of an official plan amendment,” said Crockett. “(County) council can interpret its policies, and did so, and determined that it was compliant with the official plan and didn’t need an official plan amendment.
“Council looked at all of the issues… and came to the conclusion that the connection was appropriate and represented a cost-effective and environmentally responsible solution.”