Archive

Developer gets extension on Edgewood Valley subdivision; deputy mayor says town gets shafted

February 8, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Orangeville council granted an extension to the next phase of the Edgewood Valley subdivision.

The two-year draft approval extension was granted during council’s meeting on Feb. 5, despite Deputy Mayor Todd Taylor’s comments that the municipality has gotten “the shaft” throughout the course of the development.

On Feb. 17, 2021, council granted draft approval to a plan of subdivision known as the Edgewood Valley Phase 2B Plan. The lands subject to this subdivision development are generally located southwest of the Blind Line and Hansen Boulevard intersection, immediately to the west of the Meyer Drive and Mason Street residential area.

The 2B Plan will permit the lands to be subdivided to accommodate 51 single detached dwelling lots, 17 on-street townhouses, and a low-density residential block of about 50 condominium townhouses.

It will have open space conservation lands associated with the Lower Monora Creek South tributary. The development will include a stormwater management pond block at the northwest corner of Hansen Boulevard and Blind Line.

The 2B Plan draft approval is subject to a three-year term, which lapses on Feb. 17.

If all conditions are not met within this period, the draft approval expires, and the applicant would need to start the process over and submit a new draft plan of subdivision application to pursue this development.

The Planning Act enables a draft approval lapsing period to be extended. An applicant can request an extension of their draft approval period and council may grant the extension before the lapsing date.

Council can extend the draft approval for any duration it feels is necessary.

If an extension is not granted, the draft approval will expire upon the lapsing date.

The lands for the subdivision changed hands in July 2022. The new owner, NG Citrus Ltd., requested an extension of another three years on Dec. 7, 2023. The new lapsing date would be Feb. 26, 2026.

“Over the past 18 months or so, they’ve made great progress with advancing the subdivision development and fulfilling many of the conditions,” said Brandon Ward, the town’s manager of planning and infrastructure services.

Engineering designs have been finalized and agreements are in place for the workings to service the subdivision, he said.

Despite the applicant’s request for another three years, Ward said staff feels that a two-year extension is more appropriate.

“That’s not a two-year period where the subdivision work would start,” he said. “That’s two years to get everything done.”

Designs will be finalized in that time, any outstanding agreements will need to be negotiated, and work will get underway.

“That all needs to be done before final approval,” Ward said.

Deputy Mayor Todd Taylor acknowledged the significant amount of money NG Citrus Ltd. is putting into the local economy with the development.

Nobody on council and no senior town staff were in their positions when the subdivision first began, he said.

“We’ve all inherited it as we’ve gone along,” he said. “It’s shameful. The whole thing is shameful.”

It’s a part of town with beautiful homes that have grown in value but the homeowners are “pigeon-holed” into one area in and another out of the neighbourhood, as the connecting piece of road for Hansen Boulevard has yet to be built.  

“Quite honestly, everybody who has bought in that area deserves better,” Taylor said. “All of us want that area opened up.”

Recent volatility in the economy isn’t lost on Taylor and he said he realizes that may have played a role in the development sitting stagnant.

Taylor was hoping an agreement could be reached to open a bridge in the subdivision area and to have a section of the roadway paved. But he’s learned that there are intricacies involved in a bridge and associated road work.

Those intricacies are significantly complicated, he said.

“The reality is that is super frustrating to this group,” Taylor said. “We’ve all lost credibility sitting here. The frustration level of the community is high.”

He told Trish Elliott, who represented the proponents of the development at council’s Feb. 5 meeting, that she was coming into a situation that doesn’t sit well with the community.

“It’s all about building the bridge,” Taylor said. “We need that done.”

Ward said the municipality put a culvert in the area of the subdivision to allow for the bridge. The town did that because a developer had an application underway to complete the roadway.

“It didn’t make sense to attribute the crossing of the creek to the development,” Ward said. “That’s clearly outside of what you would expect of a normal subdivision project.”

The developer was responsible for the roadway and therein laid some “intricacy,” he said, and the town didn’t want the creek crossing to create liability issues associated with the road. Likewise, the town didn’t want the road being built to create liability issues with the creek crossing.

“There’s lots of nuances with liability and assumption of risk and certification of the creek crossing to make sure it can sustain the construction activity,” Ward said.

Elliott said the road and creek crossing is a complicated matter. There are four different types of zoned land along that stretch of road, she said.

“It’s not straightforward by any means,” she said. “And I know that’s not of consolation to anyone, but these things take time.”

Mayor Lisa Post asked for a timeline for the road’s completion so it can be used by the public.

“It’s the elephant in the room,” Post said.

“This is not going to be a satisfactory answer, but I don’t want to sit here and provide an arbitrary date,” Elliott said. “I don’t want to pick a date that may or may not mean anything.”

“I appreciate the honesty in that answer,” Post said. “I really do and I know it’s not going to be the satisfactory answer the community is looking for.”

“If we were in a different position, I wouldn’t make this deal,” Taylor said. “I would walk. And I would walk hard, but we’ll choke it down and we’ll go forward. If I’m emotional it’s because I feel like we’re getting the shaft.”

Post said that not granting the draft approval extension would take the town back to square one with no progression in sight.

“If we can approve this extension and give the developer the time that they need to start doing the work on the subdivision, the road will be built faster,” Post said.

Readers Comments (0)