Cold Creek development at Sandy Hook proposes 904 dwellings

By Sharon Harrison
Stacked townhomes with underground parking lots are being called the answer to bring affordable housing through density. Another extensive residential sub-division, this with 904 dwellings, is being proposed off Sandy Hook Road.

“We need to grow. We need more people. The only way we get to affordability that everybody is so concerned about is in density, and the only way we get the density is by bringing in vertical build,” said David Cleave, CEO of Port Picton Homes.
“Apartment buildings are a must and this new line of housing (stacked townhomes) has to be our next step in entering people into our community.”

The project, proposed to span 10 years with the entire sub-division anticipated to be completed in 2035, was outlined at a public information meeting last week, attended by about 30 people.

The proposal has been in the works for some two-and-a-half years, known as Cold Creek sub-division (the confusingly similar Cold Creek name is not associated with the creek, the road or the area of the same name in Hillier ward). It is described as an “oversized development lot” located north of Sandy Hook Road/County Road 1 (with 370 metres of frontage on Sandy Hook Road), south of Loyalist Parkway and the Millennium Trail, and west of Upper Lake Street.

The applicant, 2422092 Ontario Ltd., c/o David Cleave – the numbered company is owned by Port Picton Homes, has submitted a draft plan of sub-division and zoning bylaw amendment.

Above, the ‘next door’ location of the proposed Loyalist Heights  residential sub-division of a mix of 396 new dwelling units.

The property is next to the Loyalist Heights proposed residential sub-division of a mix of 396 new dwelling units on a parcel of land located between Sandy Hook Road (County Road 1) and Loyalist Parkway. That proposal was sent back to staff for further discussion with the developer due to numerous issues raised by staff, who had recommended the application by denied.

Cleave proposes a mix of housing types to include single and semi-detached houses, townhouses, stacked townhouses, back-to-back townhouses and apartment buildings, for a total of 904 units.

“The development is high-density with low impact,” said Cleave, with the high-density coming from two mid-rise apartment buildings, back-to-back and stacked townhomes, with the stacked townhomes being a first for Cleave, and for the County, he said.

Held at Base31 (no suitable municipal meeting rooms were available, according to planning staff), the meeting hosted by Matt Coffey with the County planning department, included a short presentation by David Nanton with Fotenn Planning and Design, as well as from developer Cleave.

Also present were County mayor Steve Ferguson, councillors John Hirsch and Phil St-Jean, Michael Michaud (manager of planning), as well as Loyalist Heights developer Narisu Huhe.

Some of the attendees are neighbours who expressed concern for their well water and whether they would be forced to eventually hook-up to municipal water/sewage (planning staff were unclear on whether or not this would be the case for existing homes).

Among the concerns expressed were the considerable increase in traffic on Sandy Hook Road, land and soil erosion, environmental issues, set-backs, Millennium Trail crossings, and affordability. One commenter was concerned about the water table as it pertains to the underground parking, another asked how many trees would be cut down.

There was concern about how homes would abut the Millennium Trail. “Mayor Ferguson calls it “the crown jewel”, so I don’t understand why they build stacked townhouses right along the side of the trail,” said one man.

“We are looking to find our density targets as a developer, but we are always open to see how that marries up with the Millennium Trail,” said Cleave. “I’m a bike rider and runner, I love the Millennium Trail, I am acutely aware of how that looks for people out there with me and we don’t want to lay pressure-treated all the way down the Millennium Trail.”

One person asked what happens if there is a further downturn in the economy in terms of people purchasing. “We need that housing, we need that affordable housing,” she said.

“We build 100 units a year, we are sold out into the end of 2026, said Cleave. “We do not speculate. We buy, we dig and we build.”

One individual asked about schools and daycare capacity, noting how PECI is at full capacity, where Cleave pointed out that the new catholic school is coming to the West Meadows sub-division (off George Wright Blvd) for 350 students.

“I’ve outreached to the public board to see if they were interested in bringing a new school into the Cold Creek sub-division and we would give up density for that,” he added.

Addressing child care, Cleave said he wants to have those conversations.

“We have a growing community, a young community that is coming in our two-storey product, and we need to keep that moving if we are ever to survive,” he said. “Childcare is something that we as a municipality, as a developer, my family, we take very seriously, and we are going to work on ways to be able to create childcare.”

In his brief presentation, Nanton with Fotenn Planning and Design, shared some details on how the development would be phased out and spoke to the balancing of the density around the site “to try to mitigate and minimize the impact on adjacent residential uses in the area”. He noted maximum density would be located in the centre of the site (with back-to-back townhomes, stacked townhomes, apartments and commercial uses), with traditional density wrapped around the border of the site.

“This has been designed in such a way to accommodate a separation from the adjacent uses and existing residential uses on Upper Lake Street as well as Sandy Hook Road,” said Nanton.

Cleave, went into a bit more detail with a lengthy ramble about his family’s long-time business in the County and his achievements and goals, noting that 100-120 units are completed annually in the County by his company, with five active sub-divisions currently on-going in Picton.

He stated stacked townhouses are the lowest priced product in the market. “Affordability at 30 per cent of family income, in the 60th percentile in Prince Edward County is around $350,000.”

“We hope to be able to bring these units, starting in the upper $300,000s,” added Cleave.

“There is no other way to get any affordability today than by being vertical in nature in our build program,” he said. “They are low-impact, because in our case, and in this project, these are all underground parking lots underneath these buildings.”

“Stacked townhouses don’t fit this community,” said one woman, “if people understand really what stacked townhouses are, they would never buy them”.

Cleave explained the stacked vertical portion of the townhouse provides a two-bedroom unit on the main level, and a three- or four-bedroom unit on the upper two floors, which then become three and four storey with rooftop gardens.

He explained that back-to-back townhomes work with a common firewall down through the centre of it, streets on both sides of the building, with a garage and a front entrance, with stairs up into a living/kitchen area and upstairs into the bedroom, three storeys, slab on grade.

“It’s a nice way to build density and it’s worked out very well, and those units are a big hit for our buyers with frontal garages and balconies, and they are selling in the $400,000 range,” said Cleave.

In the question period, several people spoke to the affordability issue, with one lady asking how $390,000 was affordable for local people. “I can’t change affordability,” said Cleave, “the price of building something is the price of building something; the price of land, the price of servicing, all we can do is try to expand how we build houses.”

Cleave also spoke to sustainability, saying he would incorporate solar and geo-thermal into multiple areas, with all heating and cooling generated through the latest electrical high-efficiency heat pump technology. “We basically told Enbridge, there would be no gas in this sub-division.”

Development of the 34-hectare site is proposed to come in five phases, with phase one (anticipated to be completed in 2025) to bring 69 townhouses, 32 stacked townhouses, and 83 back-to-back townhouses (for a total of 184 units in phase one), and would include an extension to Hineman Street.

The start of phase one is hoped to begin in January 2025, from Lake Street to the south.

Some were concerned about the high density, with one woman appreciating the difficulty for builders to provide affordable units, but she took issue with developers touting affordability when they cannot provide it.

“It’s impossible to build a house for the real affordability housing, so don’t sell the projects, and don’t lie to the community saying it’s a project, when it’s not,’ she said, where another said he would like to see affordable housing at $325,000.

“This will be affordable housing, this will be as close to affordable housing,” replied Cleave to the comment, adding, “I am tired of NIMBYism; we build good projects and we will continue to build good projects”.

Someone else asked about three-dimensional modular housing to help solve the affordability issue, where Cleave explained that it cannot be financed as funders generally don’t like risk-averse projects. We have to stay traditional because in a lot of cases, that’s where the market pushes us to be, he said.

Coffey confirmed the density in the secondary plan is 25 units/hectare (preferred density), with the Cold Creek sub-division density coming in at 26 units/hectare.

The environmental impact study (EIS) indicates approximately 72 per cent of the site is currently used for agricultural uses, with the south-west corner, representing about 11 per cent of the site, is wetland.

The remaining approximately 17 per cent consisting of a combination of existing residential as well as cultural meadow, woodlands and hedgerow, where the EIS indicates two built-out single family residential lots (off Hineman Avenue) are to be re-developed as part of the development.

The report refers to a drainage which “flows diffusely across the agricultural lands from the north-east corner of the property, out-letting into the wetland in the south-west corner, with that drainage contributing to the headwaters of Waring’s Creek”.

Several people spoke to the extensive wildlife in a sensitive area, including the Blanding’s turtle. Someone else, who identified himself as someone with an environmental background, said he was “very, very disappointed” in the environmental report – especially with regard to Blanding’s turtles.

Along with the open space/wetland block, parkland block and stormwater management pond, phase two of the proposed development would consist of 48 single detached homes, 24 semi-detached homes, and 66 townhouse units (all freehold), each with a private garage and driveway (for a total of 138 units).

This phase would also create a new intersection with Sandy Hook Road and George Wright Boulevard, to connect with Hineman Street with a new roundabout.

Phase three proposes to have 54 stacked townhouses and 150 apartment units. Proposed for phases four and five will be 120 and 262 stacked townhouses, respectively.

In next steps, this application will come before the planning and development committee for decision as recommended by planning staff, expected in September, according to Coffey.

The planning documents and supporting studies relating to this application can be found on the County’s website.