Shelburne council approves condo proposal

February 26, 2014 · 0 Comments

A 40-unit condominium proposal for Shelburne’s Gordon Street has finally been altered such that it satisfies town council’s planning requirements and a privacy issue with a residential property at Gordon and Second Avenue.

The council Monday generally approved the development by bylaw, but there won’t be any shovels in the ground until Stoneridge Holdings has satisfied site plan requirements and obtained a condominium plan approval.

Planner Steve Wever said in a phone interview that it typically would require between six and 12 months to complete the requirements.

At the council’s meeting in December 2013, Deputy Mayor Ken Bennington took issue with the proposal for four-plexes at the south end of Gordon, adjacent to Main Street, and residents of a corner house on Second Avenue at Gordon were concerned that the most northerly condo unit would overlook their living room and their swimming pool.

The plan approved Monday would replace the fourplex units at issue with single storey semi-detached units facing Main Street. There would be townhouses to the rear of the semi-detached.

On the privacy issue, Mr. Wever said the unit of concern would be moved for greater separation from the private dwelling. As well, there would be privacy fencing built and trees planted.

The development fronts on Gordon and backs generally onto the railway corridor, which at the moment is considered as part of the town’s trails plan. The diagram attached to the proposal shows the corridor as a “Trans Canada Trail” although it is owned by the County of Dufferin, and not Trans Canada. Initially, CP Rail gave the corridor north of Orangeville to Trans Canada when it abandoned its Owen Sound Subdivision branch line, but Trans Canada decided it was not required.

Subsequently, the Counties of Dufferin and Grey acquired ownership. Orangeville, meantime, had purchased the more southerly portion.

Stoneridge is not fazed by the likelihood that a 230kv power line will be built on the corridor, nor by the remote possibility that rail service could eventually be restored.

The developer has said that both issues would be included in sales agreements.

The county is currently negotiating with Dufferin Wind Power for an easement on the corridor. Otherwise, the preliminaries for DWP’s expropriation are set to begin next Tuesday.

By Wes Keller