A much-debated development of 83 townhouses in Bradford West Gwillimbury is now closer to approval.
The town’s Committee of the Whole, which is made up of council members, voted this week to approve the draft plan of a new Cachet Estate Homes subdivision at the northeast corner of Simcoe Road and Line 6.
It has taken 18 months of meetings and negotiations between Cachet and the town for the company’s proposal to get to this point.
“The initial plan had some issues. To their credit, these people have listened,” said Ward. 2 Coun. Gary Baynes. Issues have included street access, parking, and the affect on streetscape and adjacent homes on Simcoe Rd.
However, the number of entrances has been reduced from two to one, and the number of parking spaces — in garages, on-street and in driveways — was increased to 2.8 per unit. Even discounting the garage and on-street parking, Baynes noted, the subdivision would still provide 1.6 parking spaces per unit, which exceeds the requirement under the zoning bylaw for 1.5 spaces.
“This is pretty stellar in terms of how many parking spots per lot,” said Baynes. “I got all positives on this one.”
Ward 1 Coun. Raj Sandhu added he is pleased with how the development plans have come together.
“The residents were heard when they brought up comments. I’m very happy to work with people like this,” he said.
Ward 7 Coun. Peter Dykie, however, questioned why there could not be a second access to the development off Line 6.
Bradford planner Alan Wiebe explained a watercourse runs along the north side of Line 6, and “it would have been very challenging, technically, to traverse that.”
Ward 5 Coun. Peter Ferragine disagreed: “There are many, many roads that go over little ditches,” he said, suggesting it should be considered.
“It’s a ditch,” said Deputy Mayor James Leduc. “We put culverts all over the community. I want a better answer than, ‘Well, there’s a ditch there.’”
Cachet’s director of land development Ramsey Shaheen explained the water is protected and the company has to include an eight- to 10-metre buffer zone around it.
“You might call it a ditch. To the conservation authority, it’s not a ditch,” he said.
The draft proposal is expected to be up for final approval by council May 15.
- With files from Jenni Dunning
