Approval recommended: Cold Creek sub-division goes before council Tuesday

Administrator | Feb 09, 2025 | Comments 4

By Sharon Harrison
A controversial proposed 870-unit residential sub-division which has garnered extensive opposition from residents and community groups, as well as concern from professionals and experts, is being recommended for approval.

Planning staff are recommending council approve the Port Picton Homes’ applications for draft plan of sub-division and zoning bylaw amendment for the 35-hectare property with frontage along Sandy Hook Road and Upper Lake Street.

Along with the Waring’s Creek Improvement Association, applicant David Cleave is expected to speak, as are several hydrogeologists and engineering consultants, attending the meeting set for Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m., at Shire Hall (and is to be live-streamed).

These applications have come before council for consideration several times in recent months, where they were denied, and then re-considered, largely as a result of extensive concerns voiced by the public to the proposed large development.

Of the various objections raised, the top issue pertains to how almost one thousand new homes would affect the hydrogeology of the area (hydrogeology is the groundwater or the water found beneath the earth’s surface, its movement and distribution), and the nearby ecologically-sensitive Waring’s Creek watershed.

Last month, the Waring’s Creek Improvement Association (WCIA) held a well-attended public meeting which highlighted the ecological importance of the Waring’s Creek watershed, noting how it may be destroyed by the significant amount of proposed nearby development. Click here for that story .

One of WCIA’s main asks has been for the completion of a cumulative impact study that would incorporate both proposed developments (Cold Creek and the adjacent Loyalist Heights). While that has yet to happen, Matt Coffey, the County’s planning approvals co-ordinator confirms that the applicant (Cold Creek) has now undertaken a hydrogeological study.

In this latest report, Coffey indicates, as a result of public and council feedback, the applications have been updated, revised and re-submitted by the applicant to include modifications intended to address environmental and public concerns, something Coffey said has been achieved.

The number of residential dwelling units has been reduced by 35 units, from 905 to 870 units, and a modification to the plan to increase wetland setbacks to 50-metres (from 30-metres) surrounding the environmental protection area, from all new proposed residential development “creating a significant buffer to natural features”.

The proposed 870-unit development is to comprise a mix of densities, to include single detached, semi-detached, multi-unit apartment blocks, townhouses and stacked townhomes “that encourages housing attainability”, to be developed over five phases.

The proposed re-zoning application incorporates the establishment of a series of special urban residential zones, including special urban residential type 3 (R3-X), an open space (OS) and an EP zone on the site. The site is currently zoned future development).

Coffey notes concerns related to the effects on ground water have been addressed by providing a hydrogeological study (that includes a “water balance” study) which was independently peer-reviewed by a consultant retained by the municipality “which indicates the development can be supported”.

The recommendations in the hydrogeological study (undertaken by BluMetric Environmental) include:
– the current monitoring well network to be maintained as part of the on-going monitoring program to assess seasonal groundwater conditions;
– the potential of incorporating additional low-impact development (LID) stormwater management practices should be investigated to maintain pre-development infiltration rates (where feasible); and
– mitigating water quality impacts to the wetlands down-gradient may be another consideration in the placement and design of LID stormwater management practices.

“An assessment of construction de-watering requirements and potential impacts on receptors should be conducted as part of the detailed design; and trench plugs should be placed in utility service trenches to prevent the preferential flow of groundwater through permeable pipe bedding materials, and watertight connections should be used for sewer installations.”

The environmental impact study “does not anticipate that the proposed development will impact the ecological function of the wetland,” states the Fotenn Planning and Design report.

Coffey quotes the provincial planning statement that states, “development shall not be permitted in lands adjacent to a significant woodland unless it is demonstrated that development will not negatively impact the woodlands or their ecological functions”.

“An environmental impact assessment has been completed in support of the development to assess the impact of development on environmental features on the site. The report concludes that the development will not impact the integrity of the adjacent woodland as the woodlands will be left intact and be deeded to the municipality,” states Coffey.

Other new key revisions to the plan include a re-design to the south end of George Wright Boulevard at Sandy Hook Road; shortening of the southern-most cul-de- sac; and relocation of lots from the east side to the west side of George Wright Boulevard.

“An alternate street alignment for George Wright Boulevard has been included in the revised draft plan, and the revision moves the street away from the existing home at 96 Sandy Hook Road,” notes Coffey. “With the realignment, nine single detached homes will back onto 96 Sandy Hook Road.”

Original plan at top, revised at bottom

Addressing the stormwater management, Coffey describes how the PPS (provincial planning statement) requires planning for stormwater management to minimize increases in off-site and on-site contaminant loads to manage quality and quantity control, where he notes the preliminary servicing report has been reviewed by the County and Quinte Conservation.

“Based on these reviews, staff in consultation with a peer review consultant, are satisfied that the development complies with the secondary plan. Relevant requirements that come from the implementation of the Waring’s Creek policies have been included in the draft plan conditions.“

He goes on to say that requirements for LID measures will be required for any future developments proposed on blocks to be approved through site plan control.

“These blocks provide the greatest opportunity to incorporate LID into the detailed plans since the on-site infrastructure will remain within private entities and not become a maintenance burden for the municipality,” outlines Coffey.

The hydrogeological peer review (undertaken by CCR Environmental) which mentions both the proposed Cold Creek sub-division and the proposed Loyalist Heights sub-division addresses the hydrogeological evaluation and assessment of potential impacts to Waring’s Creek.

With respect to the proposed Cold Creek development, the CCR Environmental report appears to largely agree with the study’s recommendation:

“The consultant for the proposed Cold Creek development has conducted a reasonable scope of investigation in terms of boreholes and well coverage… has provided some quantitative evaluation on the basic issues, however, additional quantification is required to demonstrate the magnitude of impacts remaining after the proposed mitigative measures are implemented.”

With respect to the proposed Loyalist Heights development, CCR Environmental states the consultant for the proposed Loyalist Heights development acknowledges the “scope of necessary work in very broad terms, but there has been no work conducted by them to review. We recommend that the work be reviewed once it has been conducted and a report submitted”.

The peer review provided further recommendation for both the proposed Cold Creek and proposed Loyalist Heights developments, as follows:

“We recommend that, prior to the detailed design stage, the consultants for both developments co-operate and address the cumulative effects of potential impacts that both developments will have on Waring’s Creek system,” it states. “The consultant for the Cold Creek development will require this information to fully account for impact reduction in the detailed design phase.”

The planning department’s list of conditions for the draft approval of sub-division is extensive (mostly standard), but includes a clause that the “owner withdraws its appeals to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT-24-001178 and OLT-24-001179)”.

The draft plan approval would lapse Sept. 18, 2027, unless an extension is applied for by the owner and subsequently approved by the municipality.

Regarding the 2008 minutes of settlement agreement (MOS) between WCIA and the County, Coffey notes that staff has sought a legal opinion which concludes that the obligations of the 2008 MOS have been met by the municipality.

In their final conclusion, Loopstra Nixon LLP, note the MOS required the County to undertake six initiatives in the context of the 2006 EA.

“Once those initiatives were completed through the required amendments to the 2006 EA report and the enactment of the proposed policies and mapping, the County had no further obligation to the WCIA under the MOS, and the relevant policies in the official plan and the secondary plan were to be applied and administered by the County in the ordinary course.”

It continues on to state the MOS have no on-going applicability insofar as they related to the implementation of the 2006 EA, as the 2006 EA is no longer in effect and is being replaced by the MSP (master servicing plan).

“In any event, it is my opinion that the County completed the six initiatives outlined in the MOS, and that its obligations under the MOS are at an end. The County has completed detailed studies and analyses of the natural heritage system in the County, including in the preferred development strategy, the natural heritage working group study, and the natural environment report.

The County has also produced mapping and designations for the entirety of the natural heritage system in both the secondary plan and the official plan. This work was informed by ecological land classification mapping completed in support of the preparation of the secondary plan, as well as analysis and mapping completed by other agencies, such as Quinte Conservation and the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The result is detailed mapping and policies in both the secondary plan and the official plan that are intended to protect the Waring’s Creek watershed, and any additional wetlands or other features providing groundwater discharge on the creek and its tributaries.”

Background stories can be found here: