Helena Street subdivision proposal in Fort Erie requires work
The draft plan for a subdivision to be located off Helena Street will need some fine tuning before it comes back before Fort Erie town council.
Councillors voted to receive a report on the proposed development for information purposes.
In a presentation to town politicians, Matt Kernahan — a senior development planner for the town — noted both Niagara Region and Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority had some concerns with an environmental assessment done on behalf of developer Mario Bevaqua.
That was on top of concerns expressed by residents living on Helena; while they weren’t necessarily opposed to the development, some felt that the street needs to be widened to handle additional traffic.
“I go for walks along there multiple times a week,” said Frank Dyck, who owns property across from the proposed development. “It’s an extremely narrow road. I took my daughter once, and only once.”
Another Helena resident, George Wiseman, said, “Helena Street is substandard. It needs to be widened at the developer’s expense.”
Wiseman said the area has no neighbourhood plan, and that is a problem.
“It will affect the whole neighbourhood in one way or another,” he said of the development.
Speaking on behalf of the developer, planning consultant John Perry said response to the proposal at a public information open house was positive.
“They’re actually a little bit pleased about [the] whole idea they’re going to get sewers out there that we’re going build for their benefit,” he said.
He said he and Bevaqua have been working “fully and carefully” on the plan for the past two years, and had conducted consultations with staff and various agencies.
“We were given a list of studies, in effect our marching orders. We’ve done those studies and what has transpired from that is basically that the studies were completed, and now the agencies are asking questions.”
Mayor Wayne Redekop echoed some of the neighbours’ concerns later in the meeting when councillors discussed the report.
He also said Helena is one of “a few through-streets” running between Dominion and Garrison roads.
“It’s a narrow road, and when you put in 350 homes, those residents will need access to amenities.”
The development would be built on land previously used as a hobby farm for horses, Kernahan said in his presentation. The development is to include 351 housing units (46 single homes, 121 semidetached homes and 184 townhomes).