The Half-Mile Club
By Patricia O’Driscoll
What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet – that’s how the saying goes. The year round residents often refer to us as the cottagers, summer residents, seasonal recreational residents, shoreline property owners … that’s us. All of those names fit us. Some 8,000 properties form a band along the miles of Tiny Township shoreline. No matter where your cottage is positioned in relation to the water’s edge, we are all classified with the same title.
The Federation is an umbrella association for 27 member associations around the perimeter of Tiny Township; Farlain Lake is also a member association.
The member associations are made up of residents who live within the shoreline areas as defined in the Official Plan of the Township of Tiny.
The Federation’s by-law states that the Members are:
“such associations of residents of the shoreline area which have as their members, ratepayers who own properties, some of which are waterfront properties, containing dwellings in those parts of the Township of Tiny designated as ‘shoreline residential’ on the Official Plan of the Township.
The Official Plan (OP) of Tiny designates the entire shoreline from Conc. 1 through to Penetanguishene Harbour as Shoreline Residential. The Official Plan map of the Township is seen on this page. The Township demarcates the shoreline residential areas of Tiny with a dark line. The width of the shoreline residential area varies in width (depth) and, at maximum is located one-half mile from the water. We have coloured the area blue so that the areas defined as “shoreline residential” may be more easily recognized.
An OP is an extremely important document of a municipality. It is its primary long range planning document. All new development and all municipal decisions with regards to servicing (water and waste water) and increasing the size of the roads must conform to the OP. The OP has legal status and all zoning by-laws must conform to it. Please refer to the map below which is from the current approved OP.
Within the Shoreline Residential designation, considerable new private development can occur. In addition, significant public uses such as parks, parking lots and boat ramps can be permitted. A major public or private development can effect your enjoyment of your recreational property.
A review and update of the OP has commenced. The policies affecting the shoreline residential area have not been updated in some 20 years. If you are interested in the growth and development policies of your community contact the Planning Department at the municipal offices, 526-4204.
The Federation, your association, is made up of a group of individual associations strung out over the miles of shoreline as shown on the map. The Federation represents all cottage owners within each of the associations. Let our political strategy be to maintain and enhance between all property owners in The Half-Mile Club. We are all cottagers with the same goal of enjoyment of the Georgian Bay shoreline and all the same in the OP. Don’t let different names divide. The Federation represents us all. Together we make up The Half-Mile Club.
