Township refuses to allow private well, septic on development property in Lucknow

Huron-Kinloss council is not against development in the Village of Lucknow, but it does not want to set a precedent by allowing private water and sewer services for a single-family dwelling on Bob Street.

Byron Ballagh and Maria Dunning came to the council meeting last night (June 15), to discuss a four-acre property at 62 Bob Street. They plan to build a 2,000-square-foot single-family home there, and a storage garage (40-feet-by-80-feet). The buildings would be one-third of the way set back from the undeveloped road allowance, toward the eastern boundary and about 150 feet from the southern property line.

They are questioning the need to hook up to municipal water and sewer services, given the distance from the nearest connection. They also have serious concerns about the use of chlorinated water in Ballagh's company, Ballagh Liquid Technologies, which specializes in advanced water treatment technologies that are healthy and safe with no disinfection by-products that are found in chlorinated water.

In a letter to council, Ballagh and Dunning say there is another four-acre property south of 62 Bob Street that could be available for future development, and they do not believe they should have to absorb the costs of water and sewer infrastructure that would be sized to service future development.

"We are excited about moving our family base to Lucknow as it is a thriving community," they state in the letter. "However, we have serious concerns, based on discussions so far, as to the costs that would be expected of us in order to hook up to the town utilities if an exemption is not granted."

They requested council do the following: grant then an exemption so they can install a well and septic system; remove the condition on the property so they can move forward with a building permit; and designate the entire acreage as a single property, at no cost to them, giving council peace of mind that the land will not be subdivided.

Staff recommended council remain consistent with past decisions, meaning this property must be hooked up to the watermain and sanitary sewer line in Lucknow. The cost to extend these services to the property line is estimated at $70,000. The public works director is agreeable that no stormwater drainage system is required.

"That's a lot of money to service a single-family dwelling," said councillor Jim Hanna.

"That was the decision by council," said administrator Mary Rose Walden. "It's the cost of digging, more so than the cost of the oversize pipe for future development."

Chief building official Matt Farrell said there is also a concern with sourcewater protection, since the property is within 100 metres of the Lucknow well. Therefore, no septic system would be allowed.

Ballagh noted that he had spoken to representatives of the Sourcewater Protection agency, and the spot where he plans to build his home is not in the protection zone, so a septic system would be permissible in that area.

"We would be setting a precedent if we allow private services on this lot which is on the urban fringe," said Walden.

Ballagh said the cost to install private services would be about $23,000 to $25,000. He said there is a new house on the north edge of Lucknow that received an exemption to install private services.

Councillor Don Murray said that property is located in Kinloss Township, not Lucknow.

"I'm concerned about this being precedent-setting," said mayor Mitch Twolan. "We turned down the former owner."

"If we deem the lots as one property, there would be no future development there," said Hanna.

"There are still four lots on the west end of Bob Street and two further south," said Farrell.

"If we stick to the $70,000 cost, this deal is going away," said Hanna.

"I'm not in favour of allowing private services in Lucknow," said Murray. "They should hook up to the municipal services."

"I want to see development in Lucknow," added Twolan, "but we need to be fair across the board with regard to servicing."

Ballagh suggested he could run a line down to the back of his property and hook up to the services there, with the township extending its lines about 50 feet.

"That would still cost $70,000," said Walden.

Council agreed to send the issue back to public works director Hugh Nichol to see if there are any other, less expensive options to make this happen. Council also agreed to conduct a site visit to check out the property in question.

However, council was adamant that the property would have to hook up to municipal services.