The Town of The Blue Mountains is going to engage the public about future options for a piece of town property that has been the home of a private tennis club for decades.
At its committee of the whole meeting on Nov. 18, council voted in favour of setting aside $10,000 from the town’s working capital reserve for staff to use for a full public engagement process about the future use of the tennis court property located at 130 King Street.
The 2.9-acre property has been the long-time home of the private Cameron Shores Tennis Club, which had an agreement to lease the land from the town. The property is town-owned with a small access off of Peel Street and in their report town staff estimated the land is worth approximately $2.1 million.
In 2023, the tennis club approached the town about extending the lease as they wanted to get a long-term commitment in place in order to plan for the replacement of the aging tennis courts.
At that time, council rejected continuing to lease the property to the tennis club. The town has funds and plans to build new tennis courts somewhere in the community in the near future.
That decision left the fate of the King Street property up in the air leading to staff’s request to conduct a full public engagement process about future uses of the property.
“What we’re looking to do is reach out to the community in 2025 and find out what kind of recreational services and uses would they want to see there,” said Ryan Gibbons, director of community services.
Gibbons said public engagement could include a survey, along with interviews with groups and individuals interested in the future of the property.
The staff report on the matter generated public feedback, with two local residents writing letters to council urging the town to use the property for green space/parkland.
Council was supportive of engaging the public on the matter as requested by staff, but members of council were divided on possible future uses of the property.
“We have to look at all aspects of this property and, this may not be a popular comment, but I’ve heard from people that maybe we should sell the land,” said Deputy Mayor Peter Bordignon. “It’s almost $2.1 million in a bad economy for the dirt. We have to look at all options.”
Other members of council said they thought the property should be used for recreational purposes or parkland.
“I see this project as a wonderful opportunity to expand recreational activity for Thornbury West,” said Coun. Shawn McKinlay.
Coun. Paul Hope agreed.
“I do think we’ve heard some pretty powerful feedback from the community that they want this as green space,” she said.
Hope asked if the town decided to build the new tennis courts on the property, how much land would be left over for parkland/green space.
Gibbons said there was no simple or immediate answer to that question. He said if the property was a potential site for the new tennis courts then the town had to look at a number of factors including: zoning, space for parking and possible washroom facilities/amenities.
“There are a lot of other elements that need to be considered,” he said.
Coun. June Porter said it is important to have a parkland aspect to any use of the property.
“This is an area of town, and I don’t think it would be an understatement to say, they have been screaming for parkland,” said Porter. “This area of town is literally screaming for parkland.”
