Neighbours express worries about subdivision plan
Opponents fear Ashburnham Village impact on bird habitat
Plans for a new 707-home subdivision called Ashborough Village, proposed by a developer east of the Liftlock Golf Club, were considered by city councillors for the first time on Monday evening.
The public gallery was packed for the meeting, and 10 citizens objected to the subdivision – most of them citing concerns about flooding, traffic congestion and destruction of bird habitat that they say will come with the new subdivision.
The debate and vote of councillors occurred too late on Monday evening for The Examiner’s print deadline (updates are available online).
But the two Ashburnham Ward councillors said during the meeting that their constituents aren’t happy with the proposed plans.
Coun. Keith Riel and Coun. Baldwin both said they’ve been canvassing for re-election – and citizens in East City have said they’re deeply concerned.
Meanwhile the vote on Monday wasn’t final: the decision will be up for ratification at a forthcoming city council meeting.
City staff recommended council approve the subdivision, since it will provide much-needed lots for residential development in an area that was always slated for development.
The property owned by the developer – 71.1 hectares – is bounded by Old Norwood Rd. to the north, city limits and Television Rd. to the east, rural properties to the south and the Liftlock Golf Club to the west.
The application was for the first phase of construction only, which is expected to take up 43.6 hectares of the site. It would include 707 homes (501 single-detached houses, 56 townhouses and 150 apartments.)
Construction on this first phase could begin in 2019 or 2020. A second phase of development is expected later and would likely include 150 more houses.
On Monday, citizens said there’s already a problem with flooding in the existing homes.
Karan Leal of Maniece Ave. said she’s witnessed floods that brought water to her neighbours’ front doors.
“We have a real concern about the development,” she said, because more paved surfaces will only cause greater runoff and flooding.
Bill Coffey, a water resources engineer working for the developer, was at the meeting too on Monday and he said there is indeed “an existing area of flooding” around Maniece Ave.
But he said the proposed development “will not make the floodplain issues any worse.” He said they are “held to very high standards” by the city and the provincial government.
He said any increase in flows will be mitigated: water will be stored in the stormwater management ponds and released where appropriate, for example.
“The limits of the existing flood plain will not be made any worse by the development,” he said.
Meanwhile Leal said the new subdivision will likely increase traffic in her neighbourhood – and other citizens said the same.
Greg Mather of MacFarlane Ave. said Television Rd. “is an extremely busy road”; he said it’s often bumper-to-bumper traffic, particularly on summer Fridays as people head for their cottages.
“It’s an extremely dangerous situation,” he said.
A city staff report recommends traffic signals at Television Rd. and Paul Rexe Blvd. be installed even before the subdivision is built.
But Mather said that will just back up traffic even further:
“The roads were not built for that volume of traffic,” he said.
Meanwhile city staff also recommended a transportation study for the east end that would consider potential solutions to traffic congestion, such as widening the McFarlane St. bridge.
Two citizens said they were concerned about migratory birds who live on the site.
Dylan Radcliffe and Colleen Shaughnessy both noted the presence of many migratory birds in the area proposed for development – and Shaughnessy mentioned barn swallows, which are a threatened species.
NOTE: See updates to the story at www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com.