Late last month the town’s committee of adjustment considered an application from Rick McCann on behalf of Shirley Adams to sever and rezone a 4.5-acre lot with an existing home occupation and house.

According to a planning report, the application sought to sever the property in two, separating an existing 3,200-square-foot workshop and enclosure containing a cellphone tower from an existing dwelling.

Senior planner Nick Popovich explained a 900-square-foot house is proposed to be constructed on the retained parcel, which includes the workshop and communications tower.

However, because the proposal may never come to fruition and due to bylaw requirements for a home occupation, planning staff suggested tweaking the zoning bylaw to allow a contractor’s establishment instead of a home occupation.

Popovich said a home occupation is restricted to a maximum 25 per cent of a dwelling’s floor area, and since the workshop already exists, Adams would have to build an approximate 12,000-square-foot house to satisfy the bylaw.

The zoning amendment would also recognize a slightly reduced lot frontage along the severed lot where the dwelling exists in order to preserve a stand of trees.

The planning report said that a site visit revealed a number of “non-permitted objects”, such as two large storage containers, a gas tank and camper located on the proposed retained parcel.

McCann replied the camper is used by its owners and the location of the camper satisfies the bylaw requirements.

Neighbouring property owner Gary Clark stated concerns about the use of the workshop, the number of employees and outdoor storage.

The committee of adjustment approved the severance application to create a new residential lot and addressed the concerns from the planning department and neighbour through the zoning bylaw amendment.

Gravenhurst town councillor Sandy Cairns recommended the property is cleaned up and the zoning bylaw is fine-tuned to prohibit outdoor storage on the property.

Councillor Bob Colhoun said after speaking with McCann he has no concerns with prohibiting outdoor storage and restricting the number of employees at the contractors’ establishment to six, including any family members who may live in the proposed dwelling.