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Vol. 11, Issue 31
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
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Leamington votes unanimously
Council okays interim policy on boarding houses By Mark Ribble LEAMINGTON — There was plenty of discussion at the August 25 meeting of Leamington council regarding a proposed policy to allow changes of use permits in boarding houses within the municipality. In the end, council voted unanimously to support the temporary interim policy, which in effect brings all of the boarding houses with multiple migrant workers into compliance with previously existing zoning bylaws. Leamington’s Director of Legal and Legislative Services, Ruth Orton, brought the matter to council regarding the dilemma faced by the building department. Recent fire inspections of these homes have revealed that more people are living in them than the bylaws allow and safety is a real concern for the Fire Inspector. “Boarding houses are operated as separate tenancies within a home,” said Orton. “These are not single tenancies.” The municipality’s current zoning bylaws prevent the use of single dwellings as boarding houses, but the need for additional temporary worker housing has created a safety issue by multiple workers being housed in one home throughout the municipality. The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit normally carries out the yearly inspections of farm-owned boarding houses and they recommend no more than four workers per home. The Municipality’s fire inspector has recently been issuing work orders requiring the reduction of the number of workers being housed in the homes, or for the homes to be renovated to provide firewalls, self-closing doors, alarm systems and separate exits, among other things. COUNCIL - Page 2
Three-year-old Emma Riberdy and seven-year-old Mason Riberdy, of Windsor, get a close up look at the sunflowers on the Rocheleau family farm near Cottam. This weekend, the family will wrap up tours of the field. Sun photo
Sunflowers-4-Smiles field in Cottam offers one last weekend
Over 1,000 people are estimated to have already gone for a walk through, taken selfies and even had some professional photos captured among the 31,000 sunflowers planted on the Rocheleau family farm near Cottam. The field opened for the first time on Aug. 15, with the aim of raising funds by donations for Ronald McDonald House. “We wanted to spread some joy,” said
Ashley Rocheleau at her family’s farm on Road 10. “There isn’t anything like this around here,” The family decided to give it a try. “We opened earlier than expected because the sunflowers had bloomed already, “ she said. Friday’s storm system did damage to a few of the plants and made for muddy grounds, causing them to close, but they
were back open the very next day. Unfortunately, she said they can not accommodate pets due to the liability. “Unless they are a service dog with paperwork,” she added. She said visitors are also asked to adhere to provincial guidelines as it relates to COVID-19, such as not attending the field if you are not feeling well, social distancing, washing hands etc.
As of Saturday they had raised around $3,500 of the $5,000 goal with Sept. 5 set as the last day depending on weather, she said. The field is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and is located on Road 10, west of County Rd. 27 (Belle River Rd). Turn left just past Gosfield North Public School and the farm is the third driveway on the north side of the road.
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