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Amanda Street residents fear proposed development’s impact on wetlands, wildlife

November 27, 2025   ·   0 Comments

Petition garners nearly 500 signatures objecting to five-storey condo development consisting of 120 two-bedroom stacked townhouses

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Amanda Street residents brought their concerns to Orangeville council about a proposed housing development.

The proprietors of an Ontario numbered company have requested that the town amend its Official Plan and Zoning bylaw to allow the construction of a five-storey condo development. The land would need to be designated for high-density residential use.

The proposed development involves 9, 11, 13, and 15 Amanda Street on Broadway’s south side at the east side of Amanda Street between Wellington Street and Townline. The existing structures at 13 and 15 Amanda Street will be retained.

The proposed development will feature 120 two-bedroom stacked townhouse units over seven blocks. Some will have two bathrooms, while others will have a single bathroom.

The development will come with 132 underground parking spaces and 124 secure bicycle parking spaces.

“These properties are already designated as an intensification area in the Official Plan,” Robert Russell, a planning consultant, told council on Nov. 24.

“So you’ve already decided that these properties can be redeveloped at a higher density. We’re just saying that, since you approved that, we think the density should be higher than what you previously approved.”

Rather than offering an opinion, area resident David Waugh said he had a few questions about the project.

He said he wanted to make an informed decision about the proposal. As a close neighbour to the development site, he said information is crucial to maybe becoming a collaborative supporter of the construction. By the same token, it’s important to know if the condos aren’t suitable for the area.

“When we moved here five years ago, this was not something that we saw coming,” Waugh said.

And then: “I don’t mind bad news, but I friggin’ hate surprises,” he remarked.

Pouring over the available information regarding the proposed development, Waugh said there’s much that was surprising as it relates to the town’s Official Plan.

“It doesn’t meet the plan,” he noted.

His copy of the latest version of the Official Plan is dated March 2025, he said. And he asked if the development’s proponents had an opportunity to participate in the plan’s review process.

“If they did, hopefully it would’ve been reflected in the updated plan,” Waugh said. “If they didn’t, I’d be curious as to why not because that was an opportunity fairly recently.”

He said he learned about the plans for the street by way of a mailed notice, and it would’ve been more courteous to have gotten a knock on his door and heard about it that way. He fears that might be taken as a sign of how the project as a whole will be handled.

The people who became Waugh’s neighbours were the reason he and his family decided to move to Amanda Street, he said.

“That’s why we’re all here,” Deputy Mayor Todd Taylor said. “We all love Orangeville. We all love where we live.”

Taylor said council doesn’t make decisions during such public meetings. Any developer has the right to present a case for their proposed development. And affected residents have the right to give their feedback, he added.

That was the purpose of the public meeting on Nov. 24.

Taylor said it’s rare for a developer to knock on neighbourhood doors to discuss their plans.

Meanwhile, Trudi Wood has lived on Amanda Street for about 20 years. Possible increased traffic is a concern for her. The thoroughfare was “inundated” with many cars during the recent Christmas parade, and she fears the introduction of condos will permanently increase traffic.

“I don’t think more parking is the answer,” she said. “Or no parking on Amanda Street. I (don’t) think that’s the answer either.”

The proposed housing development backs onto a wetland that’s populated by many animals, Wood said.

“We would hate for that to be impacted,” she said.

The wildlife and the integrity of the wetland area were a concern shared by resident Amber James, who conveyed her objection to the development by way of a letter to council.

She delivered a petition to council with 489 signatures from people opposed to the development.

“Amanda Street is a beautiful, peaceful, and scenic neighbourhood,” James wrote. “I adore that it is quaint and (that is) one of the many reasons I chose this neighbourhood to put roots down 16 years ago.”

She and her son enjoy walking around the neighbourhood in any season and are often met with brief conversations from pleasant neighbours. It shows that there is something special about raising a child in a small town. She said that is something not easily found.

James and her son have seen deer, rabbits, coyotes, groundhogs, and other species of wildlife. The Amanda Street area is one of the last safe havens for wild animals close to the downtown core.

Allowing the proposed high-density development would destroy that natural environment and replace it with cement, further limiting Orangeville’s tree canopy, James said.

“I am also concerned about this amendment going through which would cause major traffic congestion on an already narrow roadway,” she wrote. “It is already difficult to navigate at times when people are using Amanda Street for overflow parking, which many people do.”

Mayor Lisa Post said the town’s Official Plan allows 49 housing units per hectare. The proponent requests that the town allow a change that would permit 161 units per hectare.

A municipality goes through the Official Plan process as a means to have a say in how the community is built and grows.

“If it was a density request that was minor in nature, I think it could make some sense,” Post said. “But when I’m looking at three-and-a-half times (the density), that’s significant.”

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