Broten bows in garage controversy

OMB rules against project and committee of adjustment approval

The Ontario Municipal Board has ruled Environment Minister Laurel Broten and her husband will not be building an elaborate, two-storey garage onto their Long Branch home.
Broten and husband Paul Laberge scaled back their plans amid neighbours’ opposition late Friday afternoon in an eleventh-hour letter delivered to the mailbox of neighbour Robbie Robinson — who had challenged the project yesterday morning at a scheduled OMB hearing on the matter.
But the trouble brewing in Broten’s backyard isn’t over.
The couple now face a legal challenge to pay costs associated with Robinson’s OMB appeal.
“The minister’s husband sent a letter Friday to the OMB to withdraw their request for a variance and to build within the bylaw,”Broten spokesperson Anne O’Hagan said yesterday. “It’s just a single-car footprint without the extra height.”
Broten and Laberge had planned to build a garage with a mechanical lift in which to house two of their four vehicles, as well as bikes and baby gear for their 20-month-old sons.
The proposed garage was to have 4.2-metre walls rising to a 5.03-metre roof peak, higher than the bylaw allows. The couple won approval for it in March from the local committee of adjustment which grants “minor variances.”
But the project sparked controversy among some neighbours, who argued the proposed garage was too big, out of character with the neighbourhood and would threaten a mature tree that straddles a neighbouring property.
“I thought it was gross overbuilding, being too close to the property line and for sure would kill that tree,” Robinson said after the ruling. “It’s a beautiful tree in our neighbourhood. It’s 30 feet across and 40 feet tall.”
OMB Vice-Chair Susan Campbell agreed, allowed Robinson’s appeal and ruled the variances are not authorized.
Campbell ruled the variances did not meet four tests of the Planning Act, did not meet the intent and purpose of the bylaw, are not “minor” and are not appropriate for the character of the neighbourhood.
Land-use planner Greg Daly, hired by Robinson, presented 30 minutes of argument, saying “accessory structures (like garages) are expected to play a subordinate role and be constructed in a way to ensure they don’t alter the character of rear yards and impact adjoining neighbours.”
The OMB vice-chair further ruled that Robinson’s lawyer could seek costs against the couple. Broten and Laberge have until July 27 to respond in writing.
Robinson hired a lawyer, land-use planner and arbourist in mounting his OMB appeal of the project.
“I hope if they come back to the committee (of adjustment) with another proposal, it’s a more sensitive one,” Robinson said.

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