Moving forward

Wellington subdivision more than 40 years in the making finally approved

A year after the application was sent back to the developer for changes, Wellington Bay Estates, which is located at Wellington’s far eastern ward boundary and fronts Main Street, in part, to the south on a 35-acre parcel of land, received draft approval at last week’s Planning meeting. The revised application calls for 209 units, including 101 freehold units, 28 semi-detached units and a townhouse block complete with 80 units. The completed development is expected to accommodate 400 to 500 residents, and will be geared towards a senior population.

Last year, council sent the file back asking for changes which included a landscaping plan, townhouses being a part of the initial phase, and that the public spaces be reimagined with dedicated parkland. Planner Matt Coffey told council that staff have worked with the developer over that last year and he believes the developer has done the appropriate work to bring a plan forward that can be supportable. This revised plan also includes a new parkland block which provides a dedication of .38 hectares or 2.5 per cent of the total developable area. Staff have researched the history of the original Wellington Bay Estates development and were able to confirm that 5 acres of parkland was dedicated to the Town of Wellington as part of an earlier development application.

There were multiple comments from the audience. Ron Waslenko’s property backs onto the subdivision. He has concerns over removal of the many 100- year-old trees and the effects it could have on flooding. “No assessment report has indicated the existence of thousands of trees of the Wellington Bay Estates developments, or those trees at the existing properties. Nothing is mentioned of the effects of striping all these trees on this land,” said Waslenko. “Flooding from lack of ground water control and mitigation of the massive root system of the existing forest of trees is not to be dismissed lightly,” he said. Waslenko also asked why an environmental assessment hadn’t been a part of the approval.

Coffey explained that no complete environmental impact study was done as there are no significant environmental features, no provincially significant wetlands or significant forest areas on the property.

Main Street resident Gayla Campney was concerned about species at risk on the property. “My neighbours and I are greatly concerned about the green space that will be demolished and its impact on the environment,” said Campney. “We have noted a number of snapping turtles and other turtles, wild turkeys, snowy owls, red-grey foxes and red squirrels as well as the eastern meadowlark and whippoorwill,” she said, adding that Wellington didn’t need adult housing, but rather affordable housing for young families.

President of the Wellington on the Lake Residents’ Association Derek Mendham told council that the vast majority of his community, which was built by the same developer, was in support of the subdivision. “We believe Wellington Bay Estates is a reasonable and sensible addition to this place that we all share in Prince Edward County. We think in its current form that it will be an asset to the County in general, and Wellington in particular, and it will address the increased demand for housing, including affordable and attainable housing. We see the project as an integral part of the future plan for both the village and economic benefits that will ensue,” said Mendham.

Councillor Jamie Forrester was clear from the start that he was not going to support the file. He told his colleagues that the subdivision was not right for the community. “I have been sitting around this table a long time and we have been talking about affordable housing. Yet we have never done anything about it and we have never forced the issue. What will this development do for our community, other than I understand it will create some jobs?” asked Forrester. “It will not help the economics of our budget, and I know that for a fact. This will not provide homes for the people who live here. I can almost guarantee that. And we keep on reading in the newspapers and we hear from our constituents day in and day out that we are making it unaffordable for any young families who live and grow up here to continue to live here. Why are we doing it?” he asked again.

County Planner Matt Coffey reminded Forrester that the Secondary Plan allows for this type of development. “It allows for the construction of subdivisions and this particular property has been designated in the Secondary Plan for development even pre-dating the current Secondary Plan. It was part of the original town of Wellington,” said Coffey.

Councillor Ernie Margetson shared some background on the property. “In my experience with this property, it was designated for residential development in the 1980 Secondary Plan. There was even a lot layout. Here we are in 2022. There is a significant lag and I think to address some of your concerns, we have to start planning on a higher level. We don’t get to the subdivison stage when the premise of development has been established for over 40 years on this piece of land,” said Margetson.

Manager of Planning Michael Michaud added that there is benefit to the community, albeit maybe not right away. “There is always a significant lag between provision of housing and then employment uses, whether it be retail or industrial. You have to bring in the residents in advance and then the businesses come afterwards. There will be economic growth. Yes, subdivisions usually cost more than they bring in from a tax point of view, but with the growth comes commercial tax rates and commercial businesses that will jump up and help with the budgeting for the municipality,” said Michaud.

Pointing out that the workforce in the County is stagnant, councillor Janice Maynard questioned the comment about commercial development. “In a perfect world that is probably true. But how do you have commercial development if there is no one to be employed in said commercial establishment?” she asked.

Mayor Steve Ferguson cautioned council about standing in the way of something that is reasonably affordable. “The cure for affordable housing does not necessarily rest with the development community. Everyone has a part to play. Certainly the developers. Certainly our staff and certainly the municipality and our housing corporation. But this particular development, we have had it confirmed that it is allowable under the Secondary Plan. This application has been in front of us before and it was sent back for deliberation between staff and the developer. The developer addressed the concern and staff are now recommending approval,” said Ferguson.

Councillor Bill Roberts said that there is no one magic silver bullet to solve the County’s affordable housing issue, but that council can grasp a good opportunity. “I was a little surprised by what appeared to be a disinterest in the fact that older people need housing too. I would hate to think that we are discriminating against older people because we tend to live a little longer these days. Older people also need affordable and attainable housing,” said Roberts. “We have frequently made comments at council about things like MLS listings with the average listing price being over $1 million in Prince Edward County. That would mean affordability would be coming in at $700,000 or so, which is still crazy. Here we have 100 or more units comings in at less than $400,000 and we might be balking at that?” he said.

Councillor Forrester was still adamant that it was time to make things change and demand affordable housing. “I know $400,000 might seem like a bargain when the average selling price in the County is $1 million, but I am sure most of the councillors here have talked to their constituents. Ask a young family how attainable a $400,000 house is. Ask a young family when we heard out here there are 160 people applying to get one apartment. Talk to multiple businesses that can no longer find staff that are shutting down days or early because they can’t find staff. This may have been in the works for 20 years, but at some point this council is going to have to demand we build affordable housing,” he said.

Although Councillor Mike Harper was not thrilled with the development, he thanked the developer for making the necessary changes and meeting staff in the middle.”It’s no secret that this development has always been intended as a seniors only community. That’s always been a concern of mine, as well as quite a few residents in town, including those who live in Wellington on the Lake. Wellington has an unhealthy demographic imbalance. We simply have too many seniors for a healthy population for a functioning town. By creating another seniors community, we are not only exacerbating our doctor shortage problem, but we are not helping to bring in young families to strengthen our workforce and keep CML open,” said Harper.

Harper then put forward a motion that would see the community centre that is to be built on the property be open to all residents, not just those who purchase a property there. The motion passed.

The final vote was called, and it passed 12 to 2, with Councillor’s MacNaughton and Forrester opposed.