An old Collingwood development proposal is being dusted off and revised.
During the regular council meeting on Oct. 7, a public meeting was held regarding the Linksview development at 780 Tenth Line. On the town’s books since 2016, the public meeting was held as the developer has applied for a zoning change to allow smaller lot sizes, and to get zoning in order to allow for park blocks and a stormwater management pond.
“Nobody’s talking about the apartment buildings, and that’s the biggest concern I have. I’d like to hear more about what their plans are,” said Ron Monette, who lives on Georgian Meadows Dr. and spoke as part of the meeting.
The subdivision will be directly across the road from his home.
For the Linksview (also known as Wyeview) proposal, the previously approved draft plan of subdivision for the 40.66-hectare property south of the Blue Mountain Golf and Country Club consists of a variety of blocks, lots, and municipal road allowances to support 637 dwelling units and included a block for an elementary school.
The draft plan of subdivision was originally approved by the town in 2016.
In July, the developer put in a request for an extension to the draft plan which was planned to lapse this year, and council approved an extension at that time for one year, challenging the developer to show progress within that timeframe.
According to the new plans presented as part of the public meeting, the developer is now committing to 299 single detached houses, 187 townhouse units and an apartment building with up to 192 units depending on the unit type mix.
There will be three parks and the block for the elementary school remains in the revised plans. If the school boards do not opt to build a school within the plans, the block set aside for that purpose would become a second apartment building.
This marks an increase of approximately 43 units over the original draft plan.
“My concerns have always been the same, about access into the subdivision for fire and ambulance,” said Monette. “I still have that concern.”
Monette said he doesn’t object to the addition of more houses to the revised plan, but he is also concerned about how much traffic will be driving in and out of the new subdivision, and ejected onto Tenth Line.
“It’s already really busy. If you lived there, you’d know it,” he said.
Following Monette’s comments, the town’s planning director Summer Valentine clarified that site plan approval goes through a different process than the public meeting, and that would come before council at a later time. Under new rules in the provincial Planning Act, municipalities are not required to have public meetings for draft plan applications.
A representative of the Blue Mountain Country Club who did not identify himself noted that the club has no objections to the zoning changes requested for the site, but does have some concerns about revisions to the draft plan.
“Our interests are directly related to the future owners in the subdivision and the club living harmoniously,” he said. “The club would like to be kept informed.”
While no decisions are made during a public meeting, the town will collect feedback provided, as well as do their own technical review of everything the developer has submitted, which will inform their decision on how the proposal will proceed and if changes to the proposal are necessary.
For more information on the Linksview plans, click here.
