Pending approval, development would be down the road from upcoming high school
Guelph councillors got their first look Monday night at a proposed townhouse development that would be just down the road from a soon-to-be-built high school.
The proposal, from Waterloo-based Crescent Homes, would see 66 residential units on Arkell Road, north of Summerfield Drive. The new development, pending council approval, would be made up of 24 townhouse units and two three-storey apartment-style walk-up buildings, each with 16 units.
Some of those buildings would be built along a road that currently does not exist, but once built would connect the Arkell and Summerfield intersection, north to Dawes Avenue.
To make room for the development, four existing homes on the land would be torn down, pending council approval.
Crescent is also looking to rezone the land from its current agricultural zoning — Katie Nasswetter, a senior development planner with the city, explained to councillors the reason the land is zoned as agricultural, despite having houses on it, is a holdover from when the land was annexed from Puslinch in 1993.
While there was not any public delegations to speak to this proposal — the sole delegate was Dave Aston from MHBC Planning, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, appearing on behalf of Crescent — there were letters sent in to city hall from residents expressing some concerns.
“I do not believe that Arkell Road is meant to accommodate the traffic it currently does, let alone the extra traffic associated with this proposed subdivision,” resident Michael Rood wrote in correspondence to council.
“The traffic on Arkell Road needs to be slowed down and reduced, not increased by almost 100 extra vehicles.”
It is noted that a petition with 15 signatures was attached with Rood’s letter.
Another resident, Steve Chomyc, cited concerns around the extra people this development would bring to the neighbourhood, such as the effect this would have on local groundwater levels.
The proposed development is near another large building project coming Guelph’s way in the coming years — the first new public high school since 1967.
Last year, the province announced it would be contributing about $25.5 million to the new school, which will accommodate about 900 students once it is finished. The site for the new school is under a kilometre away, east on Arkell.
When the province first announced it would be putting funds forward for the new school, Paul Scinocca, the director of operations for the Upper Grand District School Board, said he expected it would be between three and five years before the new school is built.
Another school, the K-8 Sir Issac Brock Public School, is under a kilometre’s walk away.
The application was received unanimously be council. It now goes back to city staff for review, with a report on a recommendation for council in the future. No date has been set for this report.