A developer who had taken the Town of Collingwood to the Ontario Land Tribunal but settled as of July 19 has now committed $1-million to the town to be used for affordable housing as one of the terms of that settlement.
The same developer – John Welton of Sunvale Homes – will also be coming before council on July 24 to ask the town to remove a holding symbol on his 90-unit residential development at 17 Portland St.
Collingwood’s Mayor Yvonne Hamlin says the council vote on the development on Monday will not be influenced by the major contribution.
“It’s a technical vote, in my view. It’s not influenced by how we settled the interim control bylaw appeal,” Hamlin told CollingwoodToday.
Hamlin said Welton came to her office to discuss a possible donation before the land tribunal appeal was resolved, as the developer expressed an interest in contributing to affordable housing in the community however it didn’t make sense to add affordable units as part of the 17 Portland St. development.
“He’s been a part of this community for a long time, and he believes affordable housing is needed here,” said Hamlin.
The 17 Portland St. development – which is a 90-unit residential development split between 84 townhouses, six semi-detached units, visitor parking and open amenity space – will be coming before councillors at their July 24 meeting to ask council to approve a zoning bylaw amendment to remove a holding symbol on the project.
The holding symbol was originally put in place to make sure town water capacity was available before the developer could apply for a building permit.
“When lifting a hold, as a council, it’s a pretty technical (thing). In this case, (the question) is whether they are satisfied that there is sufficient water. Staff is telling us this has been resolved,” said Hamlin.
Welton was one of three appellants to the town's zoning bylaw amendment at the Ontario Land Tribunal, which put a halt on lifting the town’s interim control bylaw at the one-year mark of it first being put in place in April 2021.
An appeal by Aird & Berlis on behalf of the owners of 121 Hume St. was dropped back in 2022. Another appeal by Aird & Berlis, on behalf of Blue Mountain Centre, was withdrawn earlier this year. The last appeal, filed by Amber Stewart Law on behalf of John Welton/Sunvale Homes was withdrawn on July 19, which meant the town could then lift the interim control bylaw.
When asked for the full minutes of settlement, a spokesperson for the Ontario Land Tribunal told CollingwoodToday that the minutes were not provided.
“The tribunal was notified by the parties that a settlement was reached for this case and the appeal was withdrawn; however, the minutes of settlement weren’t provided to the tribunal,” said the Ontario Land Tribunal spokesperson.
According to Hamlin, the full conditions of the settlement will not be made public by the town.
"Generally, terms of a settlement are not public,” said Hamlin. “We didn’t give them allowances for density or height or anything like that, but there was a term relating to municipal servicing allocation. I can’t get into the details of it.”
“There was nothing unusual,” she said.
Welton did not immediately return an interview request sent to Sunvale Homes by CollingwoodToday.
However a news release provided by the town quoted Welton.
“Our family was looking for an opportunity to give back to the town and with the support of our children ... we thought the growing affordable housing crisis was a natural fit for us to take on and try to make a difference for those in need,” said Welton in the statement.
The 17 Portland St. development will be dealt with during the July 24 regular meeting of council, which starts at 2 p.m. Any members of the public may attend in person in council chambers at Collingwood town hall, or virtually by Zoom webinar. The meeting will also be livestreamed on the town’s YouTube channel here.
