Comment
Letter to a developer
The lands north of the cemetery in Wellington are the subject of a public meeting next Monday evening. A consulting firm has arranged the gathering in the Rotary Room of the Wellington and District Community Centre (presentation is at 6:15 p.m.) to hear community feedback and gauge interest on how the land is developed and what might arise on the edge of this village.
Much has been discussed before. Other developers presented plans a decade ago for the lands east of this property—north of the Millennium Trail. The village also updated its secondary plan a few years later. Several principles emerged from these exercises that might serve as a baseline for your development plans.
Let me put some of them on the table before we meet.
BUILD A MIX
Tracts of 4,000-square-foot uniformly shaped homes runs against the needs and ambitions set out by this community in its deliberated plans. Instead, the community has expressed the need for a variety of housing types, from single detached homes to townhomes and apartments. We need a range of pricing and rental price points. We need different sizes. Small homes and big homes. And everything in between.
When their single detached home becomes too much to manage, there are scant few options for existing village residents. Smaller home forms by way of townhomes and apartments are needed to enable Wellington residents to remain here. For others to settle.
So important is this point that our municipal officials really ought to establish a fasttrack approach to developers who commit to such a mix.
INTERCONNECT
New development north of the Millennium Trail must be designed to maximize integration with the existing village. The Trail is a natural dividing line that makes it tempting for new development on the north side to become cloistered in its own bubble.
One of the clearest messages that emerged from the secondary planning sessions was for this division not become a barrier. To do this means creating and enhancing northsouth links—both walking and vehicle access across the Trail. Specifically, this implies extending West Street and Wharf Street northward into the new development. Perhaps a hedge-lined walking and cycling path from the Millennium Trail to the cemetery, or beyond to the point where Consecon Street veers west toward Danforth Road.
The objective is to encourage development that becomes part of the village as opposed to an isolated enclave abutted to it. Ideas that enhance interconnectedness will find broad community support.
RETAIN THE VILLAGE CHARACTER
Resist the urge to build uniform shapes, colours and sizes. Wellington residents have demonstrated intense pride and ownership over the architectural built form that took root here a century ago and defines the place today. This is most exemplified in the long struggle to preserve the 120-year-old corner store in the village’s core. It should be a case study for anyone investing in Wellington.
This is, admittedly, a tough assignment. Much easier to create a single popular model and sell it over and over again with some superficial differences. But there is a rural Ontario village aesthetic that is stamped on Wellington. Study it. Build it into your product line.
HERE IS WHY
Demand to live in Wellington and Prince Edward County is strong and likely ascending. Smart developing means levering the advantages and value proposition that exists in the market, as opposed to wedging an existing urban product into this context. Folks want to live in Wellington—don’t propose Mississauga or Vaughan. It won’t work.
WELCOME
The truth is we need new homes in Wellington and the County. Demand has outstripped supply for a decade and has distorted the market such that working families can no longer afford to live here. We are eager to fix this. But not at any cost.
We welcome investment in our community. We look forward to your participation in the dialogue about how growth happens and what form it takes. There are values, however, we hold dear and will not sacrifice. Hundreds of folks participated in the creation of the village secondary plan, hundreds more put their energies into analyzing and assessing other large residential plans. Wellington has existed for more than a century and will be here a century from now in any event.
Our waterworks facilities have plenty of capacity and abundant expansion room—but is currently constrained by a distribution system that struggles to maintain even water pressure from edge to edge.
We will not trade a compromised water system for new homes. Another water tower is planned. And that will help. Yet, we are open to ideas that will bridge these needs and fit smoothly with our existing infrastructure.
Finally, we encourage you to come to the table with plans that reflect the values discussed here and the aspirations you hear on Monday. This is your best path to success.
We truly welcome your investment. But know this, we will do whatever is necessary to protect our community, our sense of place and rural character. If you respect these values, we will get along just fine.
Where is the affordable housing in the plans ?
There are working poor County People who have been living here for generations
and who need to find affordable housing so that they can stay in The County
and continue to live The County Way of Life .
Where are the trees going to be ?
If farmlands need to be turned into subdivisions ,
then , for the sake of God , create some wooded areas
to restore some health to the land and to mediate the loss of natural drainage .
High Speed internet???
Do not build for the Toronto crowd, you need more local and affordably housing for current the locals.
Makes me sick to see pristine A1 farm land that feeds us destroyed forever. Stop growing. Relentless, senseless growth is just a big Ponzi scheme. Build on brown lands if need be.
Ken Burford
301 Noxon
Please note, the date and time of the meeting is Monday, February 25 and doors open at 5:30PM (not Tuesday as noted in the original published version of this article).