Although the mayor objected, Collingwood council pushed through site plan approval and a zoning change for a small strip of land on Highway 26 this week.
During their Dec. 16 council meeting, councillors voted in favour of an application to approve a site plan and zoning change for 11589 Highway 26 – called Cranberry Marsh Estates – to remove a holding symbol on the land. This will make way for 26 freehold townhouses, a road and an outdoor amenity space, including a children’s play area on the land.
The proposal would facilitate the developer connecting the Vacation Inn trail to the town’s Cranberry Marsh trail through a three-metre-wide asphalt trail.
To kick off the meeting, Helen Montoux gave a deputation to council about the application, noting she represents residents of Whisperwoods, which shares a boundary to the west.
“We do have some issues with this development,” said Montoux, noting a lack of planned visitor parking. The developer has confirmed that the parking situation will be explained to potential buyers through contracts of sale, but Montoux believes it isn’t enough.
“Most visitors are from out of town. People will ignore that and park on our properties,” she said.
Montoux also noted the traffic study is outdated, having been completed in 2019. Drainage is also a concern.
“This proposed development is supposed to be twice the height. There’s supposed to be a swale, but we know from living there that that part of the land is completely underwater in the spring,” she said.
The proposal first came before councillors at their Nov. 18 committee of the whole meeting. The 1.2-hectare property, which is currently vacant, is on the south side of Highway 26, approximately 190 metres east of Vacation Inn Drive and 280 metres east of Princeton Shores Boulevard. Greentree Gardens and Emporium is to the east of the property.
At that time, Mayor Yvonne Hamlin brought forward a few concerns about the proposal, including that there is only one parking space in the garage and one parking space in the driveway planned for each townhouse unit – for two spots total – and no visitor parking or on-street parking is permitted or planned for in the application.
“I didn’t like the way the application came forward in that it was structured to avoid having parking. I thought that was a critical component I think should have been taken care of,” Hamlin told CollingwoodToday following the meeting.
She also previously shared concerns regarding access points to Highway 26 and service roads connecting this development with others, which she still has.
“It’s something I’m frustrated about, but I think it’s a bigger issue for Highway 26. I do appreciate we can’t solve all the problems with this one development,” she said.
Council voted 7-1 in favour with no discussion on four motions to approve the site plan with conditions for a three-year term, changing the zoning, and allocating water to the development. Mayor Yvonne Hamlin was opposed to all four motions.
