A proposal for a new home to be built on vacant land near Craigleith stirred up plenty of opposition from neighbours.
On Dec. 19, The Blue Mountains council held a public rezoning meeting to hear comments about a proposal to create two separate building lots on a property located at Railway Street and Barclay Boulevard, just off of Highway 26 not far from the Craigleith Provincial Park campground. The property is owned by Blue Birch Properties Inc.
The proposal would rezone the land to create two separate building lots to allow a single detached dwelling to be constructed as well as to create a hazard zone on the property with exceptions to allow grading and other work.
A number of neighbouring property owners expressed concern and outright opposition to the proposal and council also heard reports expressing concerns from a number of other agencies including Grey County, the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority and the Niagara Escarpment Commission.
Planning consultant Kristine Loft represented the proponent and said of the 26-acre lot, a total of three acres would be used for the two building lots. The remainder of the property would be in the hazard or wetland zones.
Access to the intended building lot would be off Railway Street via a purchase of the road allowance or a road use agreement with the town. Access to the second building lot would come via James Street.
Loft told council the proponents would be reviewing the comments received from the public and various agencies and would be providing a response.
Coun. Alex Maxwell said he had read in the Grey County report about the possibility of an old oil well on the property and asked about its status.
Loft said that particular comment was new information the proponents would be looking into further.
“That comment came up last week. We are investigating it,” said Loft. “We will be reporting back.”
Several neighbouring property owners spoke at the meeting and expressed opposition to the proposal.
Bob Aziz told council he was concerned the development would quickly go from a single detached residence to a townhouse development. Aziz said he felt the “true intention” of the application was eventually to get more density.
“The evidence suggests (the proponent) is not going to do a single-family residence,” said Aziz. “I would ask council to think about all this. What is the likely outcome down the road?”
After the meeting, town planning staff confirmed for CollingwoodToday that the zoning being sought in the proposal - Residential One with an exception - would not allow a townhouse style development. They said any such proposal would have to go through a new rezoning application.
The flow of storm and melting snow water in the neighbourhood was a prime concern for a number of local residents. A significant portion of the subject land is a wetland with multiple water courses feeding into it.
Al Tamman said he was concerned any diversion of water for the proposed development would have a major impact on his property.
“I’m going to have a lake in the backyard,” he said. “I think there are some inconsistencies here and some problems.”
Kirk Gray had similar comments.
“There is an awful lot of water. Any alteration to that wetland is going to directly affect me,” he said.
Council made no decision on the proposal and a planning report with a recommendation will come to a future committee of the whole meeting for a decision.
