Large Fenwick homes to be sold with warning

After more than a decade of planning approval extensions, a Fenwick subdivision will finally begin construction.

Pelham town council Tuesday passed a bylaw approving The Woodlands Phase 2 subdivision, a strip of 18 large, single-detached houses along the east side of Balfour Street between Canboro and Welland roads.

The bylaw will include a notice to new homeowners.

It will say future developments behind them in the new East Fenwick Secondary Plan could have smaller lots and tighter density than the large Woodlands lots.

Ward 2 Coun. Gary Accursi urged inclusion of the warning so buyers are not surprised later when they see new subdivisions.

Planning director Barbara Wiens said the process for Woodlands began in 2005. The subdivision plan received its first approval in 2007, before the provincial government changed regulations requiring greater density in subdivision developments.

The plan was granted extensions in 2010, 2013 and 2014. In 2016 town council granted a oneyear extension saying that was the last one.

Phase 1, a two-house package on Canboro Road at Balfour Street was built earlier.

Wiens said the subdivision owner, T.R. Hinan, has sold lots to a builder, U. Lucchetta Construction Ltd., who is ready to begin work.

If council did not approve the bylaw, it would run the risk of an Ontario Municipal Board hearing with additional planning and legal costs as well as possible expensive lawsuits.

The owner and builder had already committed time and resources to the project.

Wiens said the development will provide a transitional buffer, along with the former Pelham high school apartment complex, from larger developments west of Balfour to new ones east of it.