Consecon development plans low-density sub-division

UPDATE JAN 30: Approved by council to move forward.

By Sharon Harrison
JAN. 25: The little hamlet of Consecon is expected to experience some growth after council supported a proposed modest sub-division development application of just 37 dwelling units at Wednesday’s planning and development committee meeting.

Councillors approved a draft plan of sub-division and zoning bylaw amendment in Ameliasburgh ward for Lakeside Estates (not to be confused with a now-lapsed sub-division proposal for Wellington of the same name), to include 29 single family homes, and four semi-detached units (providing eight dwellings).

Council discussion primarily included environmental concerns, in particular relating to potential contamination from a former dump on an adjacent property and potential leaching, as well as trees and a tree preservation plan, and affordable housing among them.

One member of the public who identified himself as living on Lakeside Drive, immediately across from the proposed sole entrance to the sub-division to the south, voiced concern surrounding the configuration of the roadway directing all traffic onto Lakeside Drive.

“If you were to canvas any of the Lakeside Drive owners, no one is in favour of having that traffic flow onto Lakeside Drive, primarily because Lakeside Drive is a rural County road that is used heavily by all residents as an amenity,” he said.

“The argument was made that it was not safe to have entry onto Loyalist Parkway doesn’t really make sense with some of the recent planning decisions that have been done, where there are five homes at the intersection of Lakeside Drive and Loyalist Parkway which have direct roadway and driveway access onto Loyalist Parkway.”

He was worried about a lack of sidewalks proposed for Lakeside Drive, the hundreds of headlights a day exiting and entering the sub-division, as well as concern about his drinking water (being the only home in the area on a well), the trees and tree protection, as well as the impact of many nesting winter swans on Consecon Lake.

Falling within the Consecon settlement area, the 9.2 hectare property is situated east of Loyalist Parkway on the outskirts of Consecon, with direct access from Lakeside Drive to the south. It is being described as low-density (having a residential net density of 5.0 units per hectare).

Currently zoned as future development (FD), the application proposes re-zoning the piece of property to special hamlet residential (HR-100) and open space (OS) -with the OS re-zoning intended for the purpose of a stormwater pond and emergency access.

“The purpose of the special hamlet zone would be to implement semi-detached dwellings as a permitted use, and include associated yard provisions,” noted Matt Coffey, planning co-ordinator, in his report.

The proposed sub-division will be serviced by municipal water, and private septic systems.

The property is owned by George Marchi of 2789640 Ontario Inc. registered in Vaughan, Ontario.

Planner for the developer, Ray Essiambre of Ray Essiambre and Associates, gave a brief presentation outlining the proposal for what he described as an “infill development”.

Essiambre spoke to the arborist study conducted and a tree preservation plan that was developed.

“We propose there will be landscaping plan, and we plan to have the arborist go back and look at the vegetation for the site and see if we can’t find more trees that we can protect, and incorporate into the development,” explained Essiambre.

He said there were three trees north of Lakeside Drive identified, but they may be able to find more working with the arborist. He further noted that there was a need to screen some of the properties to the south of Lakeside Drive.

No park dedication is being proposed for the site, and parkland dedication would be provided in cash in lieu of parkland.

There would be one internal road with access onto Lakeside Drive, and proposed is an emergency access between Loyalist Parkway and the internal road network with bollards.

“Lakeside Drive was chosen because it is a local road that connects to a local road; from a traffic design point of view, it is not desirable to have a local road connecting with a major arterial on Loyalist, so the local road connects with Lakeside,” Essiambre explained. “We have another consideration for where the road is located, and where the access is located, is that Loyalist is a major arterial, and we need to have the access located as far as possible from the arterial for safety and traffic movement perspective.”

Asking how the bollards are going to work and if they are removable, councillor Brad Nieman asked, “What’s stopping a non-emergency personnel from removing them?” Essiambre confirmed the bollards can be knocked down by emergency vehicles (but not cars).

Councillor Roy Pennell expressed concern about the land immediately to the north of the proposed sub-division, where he pointed out the land was a legal dump spot and wrecking yard.

“What affect would that have on possible water contamination, or contamination going into the sub-division itself, what protection is there for the people that there is no contamination from that dump?” he asked. “Would you be prepared to do the proper testing to ensure positively that the lots, and that corner in particular close to the dump area, are protected for the future of Wellers Bay and Consecon Lake?”

Manager of planning, Michael Michaud confirmed an environment assessment has been done on the property and it is environmentally clean.

“There is nothing the developer can do to go on someone’s land to see if the other property may have some contamination,” Michaud said. “The laneway acts as a barrier, it protects this particular property, so we are not going to be drawing water out of the aquifer as it already has serviced water, so we are not going to be pulling water into somebody’s well. We are satisfied the property is clean from an environmental standpoint.”

Nieman asked whether any affordable housing had been identified for the site, adding “is there any interest in having a percentage as affordable housing?”. Essiambre replied, saying, “this is market housing here, there is no affordability target here, so it’s market-based housing”.

A public meeting was held in June 2022, see background story here:

Family homes proposed for edge of Consecon boundary

Concerns raised from members of the public at the June 2022 meeting have been addressed by the developer according to Coffey. Some of those concerns included wetland encroachment, improving safety on a busy stretch of Loyalist Parkway, environmental sustainability, as well as the impacts of water quality for Wellers Bay, and dark sky impacts for the area.

All planning documentation relating to this application can be found on the County’s website.