A public meeting to consider an application to register a condominium corporation and bring an end to a five-year process to build 92 townhomes on property in a southeast neighbourhood, will be heard Tuesday starting at 10 a.m..
The proposal for 143 Elgin St. N., on land bounded by Alison Avenue to the north, Radford Avenue to the east, Hilltop Drive to the south and Elgin Street North, has been through an extensive review and approval process over the last five years, including an Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) appeal, zoning by-law amendment, severance and site plan.
Land clearing over the last year has made way for the construction.
Located behind homes on Elgin and Radford, and adjacent to St. Anne Catholic Elementary School and The Vineyard Christian Fellowship, the development was opposed by several residents when the property was subject to a site-specific zone change in 2016.
The church and the applicant, Forest Park Homes, eventually launched an OMB appeal when the City of Cambridge “refused or neglected” to make a decision on the application.
Nearby residents appearing before the OMB argued the development would result in an unacceptable increase in traffic congestion, wouldn’t be properly accessible, represents overdevelopment and excessive intensification, and would not adequately preserve important cultural heritage features.
The OMB heard traffic congestion was of particular concern for residents along Elgin Street North, and that a traffic study done by the applicant didn’t take into account an addition to St. Anne school or the roundabout at Franklin Boulevard.
Other concerns about the site’s cultural heritage and overdevelopment were addressed, but the project was ultimately approved by the OMB in March of 2017.
The region approved an application to sever 3.42 hectares of land from the church property in 2018.
As the approval authority for condominium plans, the Region of Waterloo is required to host the public meeting for the application to divide the land for a Vacant Land Condominium.
The process is different from a severance or subdivision in that the individual lots cannot be further subdivided and cannot be separated from the condominium corporation or the common areas unless the condominium corporation is dissolved.
The Vacant Land Condominium is for the ownership of the development only, to allow each townhouse unit to be sold with a parcel of land while common areas are owned and maintained by a future condominium corporation.
Those common elements include the single access condominium road between Elgin Street North and Radford Avenue, visitor parking, and landscaped areas which contain an underground stormwater management pond and some of on-site services
The proposed development was reviewed and approved through the site plan processes in 2019 and 2020.
The built form, number of units, permitted uses, etc. were already approved through previous applications.
In accordance with the Planning Act, prior to the Region of Waterloo making a decision, a public meeting is required to receive comments from the public.
The application has been circulated for comment/draft conditions to city departments and to the public for comment.
