A massive, 1,200 rental unit housing development is being proposed on a property located near the Blue Mountain Village.
At its committee of the whole meeting on Nov. 7, The Blue Mountains council received a presentation about a large proposed rental housing development on Grey County Road 19.
Representing a numbered company, Paul Mondell spoke to council about the development concept.
The proposal would see 13 buildings, from three to five storeys, constructed on land located on county road 19 immediately across the road from the Windfall development. The buildings would be a mixture of rental units of one and two bedrooms, micro units and co-living units. The project could also include a small amount of commercial units for the property.
“This is a unique opportunity,” said Mondell. “This is a very important initiative.”
Mondell explained that no applications for the project have come forward and the proponents are still in the process of acquiring the land. He said the proponents were coming to council early in the process to create awareness of the project and to present a “very, very high level” version of the concept. He also noted that the numbered company would eventually receive a name change.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” he said.
Mondell said the proponents hoped to pursue a Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator application for the project. That is a provincial initiative designed to speed up the approvals process for affordable/attainable housing. He also said the builders planned to seek financial support through federal affordable/attainable housing programs for the project.
“This project would be open to anyone looking to rent in this part of the world,” said Lindell.
Members of council thanked Lindell for reaching out early in the process.
“It’s good to see early what the thoughts are,” said Mayor Andrea Matrosovs.
Coun. Paula Hope called the proposal “a community onto its own.”
Public reaction to the proposal was swift. Three members of the public spoke to council to express opposition to the concept. Council also received two written comments in opposition to the idea.
