THUNDER BAY -- A resident of Hilldale Road has failed in an effort to require that any house built on a lot next door be situated where it won't block the view from her own home.
She appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) after the City of Thunder Bay's Committee of Adjustment (COA) approved a severance creating a new lot adjacent to hers.
The woman had asked the COA to mandate a larger front yard setback on the proposed lot, even though the severance conformed with the existing Zoning By-law (ZBL) and the city's Official Plan.
The ZBL requires a minimum front yard setback of 10 metres. She wanted a setback in keeping with existing homes on Hilldale Road which she estimated are 20-25 metres from the road.
The woman noted that all the lots on Hilldale run diagonally back from the road and are not perpendicular to it. Because of this lot structure, she said, the new lot would project somewhat in front of her house, and if the owner chose to build at the minimum 10 m setback, the new house would be closer to the street than hers, would be in front of hers, and would obstruct her view of the street.
According to an OMB document, the woman said the new home "will appear to be in her front yard." If the new lot was approved without a mandatory larger setback, she said, it would significantly reduce her property value and "would not show any consideration or respect for the existing homes in the area."
The owner of the adjacent property said he planned to sell the new lot to his sister, and that the family intended to "voluntarily" build a new house with a large front yard setback similar to other houses on the street. However, he opposed having the flexibility and options on the new lot limited by a condition requiring a front yard setback larger than what the ZBL calls for.
A representative of the city Planning Division also testified at the OMB hearing into the matter that she was not aware of the city ever having asked the Committee of Adjustment to apply a larger setback than what's permitted by a Zoning By-law, and was not aware of the COA ever having done so on its own.
The OMB, in dismissing the woman's appeal, said it had "some sympathy" for her, but "it would simply not be fair or equitable for the Board to require that the new lot be subjected to a more restrictive setback than the other lots in the area" including her own.
