The Prince Edward County Planning and Development Committee has approved rezoning for a large residential development on Wellington Main Street.
The development is planned on two properties at 380 Wellington Main Street and 0 Cleminson Street in Wellington. The two properties are a combined 7.58 hectares, divided by Cleminson Street. The property also borders Millennium Trail.
The new development is being proposed by Stirling Homes.
The plans for the property include 207 townhouses west of Cleminson Street. East of Cleminson Street, plans are in place for 32 single-detached homes, and 14 additional townhouses. Park land is also included in the plans, fronting onto Millennium Trail.
While the property currently lacks water and sewer service, during the committee meeting, the developer says they want to get started as soon as water service is available and expect to have shovels in the ground in 2025.
Several local residents attended the meeting to speak out against the development. Many of the complaints focused on the density of the project, claiming that they were putting too many units into the space, preferring a smaller number of larger single-detached home properties to match the homes in surrounding residential areas. The townhouse arrangement was accused of being an ugly wall by area residents, with the taller homes infringing on the privacy of existing homes.
Many residents complained about the backs of townhouses facing the fronts of homes on Aletha Drive in Wellington on the Lake, saying that the walls of small back porches would ruin their privacy and environment outside their homes. Municipal staff informed council that Stirling Homes had reached out to the developer for Wellington on the Lake for permission to front units onto that stretch of Aletha Drive as it is a privately owned road, but were turned away and told they could not, forcing them to plan for their own road and have the rear of properties facing the front of existing homes.
In order to address the concerns of the existing residents, Councillor David Harrison introduced an amendment to direct staff to work with the developer to amend the plans for the property to attempt to change the property layout so as to not impact Wellington by the Bay homes as much.
“I trust the staff and I trust this can be worked out,” said Councillor Harrison. “But on behalf of the people who’ve made their presentations here, I feel this is basically important in the sense that it doesn’t fall through the cracks some way when it leaves here.”
The amendment failed, and councillors passed the zoning application as originally presented, granting permission for the proposed density of homes. A final site plan will still need to be submitted and approved before construction can begin.
