Apartment approval

Cornwall votes to allow amended plan for Harvest Hills subdivision

The final phase of the proposed Harvest Hills development has been given a green light.

Cornwall council voted 5-1 during a recent meeting to give preliminary approval on phase 3B of the Mercedes Drive subdivision, which includes the construction of two 24-unit apartment buildings.

The developer previously proposed a phase 3 that also included a mix of semi-detached and multiple family dwellings. However, the town’s planning board requested more information after feeling the transition and buffering between the proposed apartment buildings and existing dwellings was inadequate.

Since splitting up the proposal into two phases and approving the first last month, Coun. Peter Meggs, who chairs planning board, said the town had received an amended plan from the developer along with a report from a professional planner.

“The professional planner, in this case, felt the developers had addressed the transitional issues,” said Meggs, adding that the amended proposal included more trees and fencing.

“(The planner) determined the way it was configured, with the parking lot and trees and so forth, there was enough buffering to make the difference it terms of it being an adequate transition.”

Meggs said there were lengthy discussions among planning board members on the development and that there was not a unanimous determination that the amended proposal receive approval.

“Most of us have kind of reached the point where the opinion of the planner made the difference,” said Meggs, who at the time of the vote said councillors had to use their best judgement on whether transitional issues had been addressed.

Deputy Mayor Gary Ramsay voted against the motion.