Developer Kaitlin Homes will have to wait a little longer for a decision from Prince Edward County Council before it can start a big housing development in Wellington on land north of the Millennium Trail.
At a special Planning & Development meeting Thursday council voted 10-4 to defer a decision on extending Draft Plan of Subdivision approval after a previous extension of Draft Subdivision approval had lapsed in November of last year.
Wellington Ward Councillor Corey Engelsdorfer made the motion to defer any decision to the next feasible council meeting to allow consultation with legal counsel.
Kaitlin has had a proposal on the County’s books since 2012 for a development totaling up to 460 homes with mixed housing types, including affordable units, apartments,
townhouses, and single family homes.
The proposal, now titled Cork and Vine, has been amended several times over the years and has received approvals but has not come to fruition yet.
The plan last received a 5-year extension in 2019 and what a Kaitlin representative termed an “embarrassing” situation led to the November 2025 deadline being missed.
Kaitlin Homes maintains it needs Council to deem the Draft Plan of subdivision approval “not to have lapsed”, saying it has almost all studies completed and has tenders out for the development’s groundwork.
The hope is that construction would begin in the summer after the County finishes infrastructure work in that part of the village.
The company hopes to build 100-to 150 residential units per year and has tied up virtually all of the remaining water/sewer
capacity remaining for Wellington, frustrating other local developers.
Several Councillors expressed skepticism during the Planning & Development Committee meeting that there was a demand for that many new residential units at this time, pointing to what has become a very slow real estate market.
Kaitlin’s representative said new government incentives to spur home buying have just come on stream and it’s the company’s belief that better days are ahead for the housing market and soon.
