The proposals for two subdivision developments in Wellington were up for discussion on Wednesday night.
The Prince Edward County Planning Committee heard from a handful of residents about the Wellington Bay Estates and the Fields of Wellington Inc. development during a public meeting at The Regent Theatre in Picton.
A decision regarding both developments was not made at the meeting as a final decision will come before council in the form of a staff report at a later date following a peer review.
The Wellington Bay Estates development on Main Street proposes to see 138 single detached residential lots and 40 semi-detached dwellings.
Three residents spoke to the development citing concerns about the loss of green space and the density that would come with the project.
William Coben says he attended the open house for this project last September but he still has some concerns.
“Two critical issues I see that need more work; density and green space. There’s too much of one and not enough green space for the other.”
Councillor Mike Harper had questions regarding traffic flows off Main Street into the new development.
Development Engineer Steve Harvey said there would be some work needed to Main Street.
“…or what’s being proposed sorry, is a turning lane on Main Street. So they did find there would have to be work on Main Street but they didn’t find that there would need to be signalization or anything like that, but they didn’t find a turning lane would be required.”
Harvey also said County staff are asking for traffic calming measures be put in place.
The question of affordable housing was asked and Martin Mazierski, President of Wellington Bay Estates said it is hard to predict where housing prices will be in two years.
“We’re not aiming at a premium market or anything like that. The houses will be attainable, not subsidized housing, but attainable housing. Given that I’m two years away, it’s tough for me to paint myself into a corner but I can tell you $600,000 sounds very high.”
Fields of Wellington Inc. on Consecon Street development
Fields of Wellington Inc. on Consecon Street development
The second development, Fields of Wellington Inc. on Consecon Street has a total lot area of 44 hectares (110 acres) and the developer proposes to build a subdivision that consists of a range of 671-691 residential units to be developed over eight phases.
The subdivision will consist of single detached dwellings, link homes, townhomes, and mid-rise residential.
Councillor Phil St-Jean asked how landowner Alan Hirschfield felt about supporting the municipality’s position on limiting the number of whole home short-term accommodation (STA) rentals.
Hirschfield said it was never his intention to see the units as STAs.
“Absolutely. It was not our intention. Our intention was to provide a young couple can move into a normal, regular detached house, three bedroom house, and be able to afford it because they can rent an apartment above the garage and to design it in such a way that there is adequate parking for a tenant. They may decide to have extended family living there, or to work from home, as we know that’s become important and probably something that’s here to stay. Never been our intention to provide this as short-term vacation homes.”
He also said it is very important to him to make sure the new development ties into the village and doesn’t “have that disappointing look most subdivisions have” by reviving the traditional village in small town forms as they have an aesthetic to them.
Prince Edward County Planning Committee on August 26, 2020 at The Regent Theater.
