So there’s this property at the end of Sidney Avenue, owned in common by the owner of 253 Mclean Street, and now being considered for the construction of a home.
On the Official Plan for the town, the property is shown as being zoned for residential. But on another environmental plan, part of the property falls within the boundaries of an area designated as being a natural hazard zone, as there’s a ravine situated right next to the property, and the property itself contains a negative slope leading down to this ravine. The lot, then, gets caught in a municipal Venn diagram, with overlap of two different designations.
People have wanted to build there before and have been denied. Now a developer wants to build there despite the overlap. Some of the residents who live in the immediate neighbourhood aren’t so keen on the idea.
The town wants to amend a by-law to designate the lot as zoned Residential 1-HOLD, meaning nothing can be done on it or with it until a potential developer can satisfy the town that the property will be in compliance with town water and sewer guidelines.
That slope is going to be a problem. It’s been identified as being made up of what’s known as slip clay, an extremely unstable soil that’s prone to sudden failure due to natural calamities like earthquakes and floods. As such, slip clay is particularly vulnerable to erosion. Any subsequent development is going to have to include mitigation measures to reduce this threat to a level deemed acceptable.
The applicant, Boden Zvonerich, has submitted a Planning Justification Report that includes an environmental assessment and a Slope Stability Assessment.
The town canvassed for neighbourhood feedback and received one letter in response. The letter writer says there’s no real intent to get in the way of the home-builder’s plans, but rather they’d like to know why the land can be re-zoned in the first place whereas previous attempts by owners to build there have been denied.
The matter was to have been taken up by the Economic Development, Planning and Tourism Committee at their regular meeting on February 7, 2023. Their recommendations are pending.
NEWSMAGRENFREW 