The city is asking council to approve a draft plan of subdivision for an industrial complex in the North Cambridge Business Park that has the potential to create 1,881 jobs while bringing an estimated $21 million in development charges and $3.7 million in permit fees to city coffers.
A company known as iPort Cambridge GP Inc. is proposing to divide 269 acres of farmland, worth an estimated $30 million, into three business park blocks, two park blocks, two open space blocks, one stormwater management block and one walkway service corridor.
Annual tax revenue from the development is expected to fall between $248,740 and $279,835.
Zoning bylaw amendments that came into effect for the properties in 2018 permit a range of industry, office buildings and complementary uses.
The draft plan of subdivision also includes the extension of the north-south collector road known as Intermarket Road from Allendale Road to Middle Block Road.
That project has an approved budget of around $9 million and is being funded from development charges with additional contributions from the developer.
The entire area bordered by Riverbank Drive, Middle Block Road, Fountain Street North and Allendale Road is considered employment land and designated under the city’s official plan as either prime industrial, business industrial, open space and agricultural, and is serviced accordingly.
The city held a public meeting in July 2020 where neighbours of the site raised concerns about impacts to heritage, stormwater management, potential flooding and land use compatibility.
To appease some of those concerns, the city is requiring setbacks from the provincially significant Maple Grove wetland and a woodlot immediately south of it.
A study of Allendale Creek, which runs through the site, also identified east-west wildlife movement through the property. To accommodate this, the city is recommending the developer build a public access trail corridor through the complex.
The city is also asking the developer to establish a 70-metre wide transition area to provide a buffer for homes on Banat and Allendale roads.
Any uses the city thinks could create a nuisance for those residents won’t be allowed in the adjacent development.
Three properties within the subdivision were on the city’s heritage properties register.
The city approved demolition of the structures at 250 Allendale Rd. last January. A staff report says Saint Florian’s Crosses recovered from the demolition were donated to the Cambridge Fire Hall Museum. The developer is also required to submit a “conservation and commemoration plan” on how they intend to reuse the rubble stone ruins of the barn.
A farmhouse at 105 Middle Block Rd. won’t be impacted from the development and a Intermarket Road is expected to divert traffic from Riverbank Drive, which is considered a scenic route in the city’s Heritage Master Plan.
Staff contend the project “supports the city’s strategic alignment as it will provide fully serviced employment lands that will support the local economy.”
The staff report says a Transportation Impact Study submitted with the application demonstrates that the existing and planned transportation network can accommodate the proposed development.
