With the first part of the Tawny Ridge Estates residential project for St. Davids given the green light by the town, some are looking forward to seeing more family homes being built in the neighbourhood, while others say St. Davids isn’t ready for more development.
Niagara-on-the-Lake council approved the first phase of the development, 12 single-family detached homes on Tanbark Road, last week, with the next stage a proposal for 74 residential units of mixed-density housing, including apartments, townhouses and single-family homes.
“The benefit (of this proposal) would be 12 single-family homes in town, which would be exactly the demographics that St. Davids would support,” Coun. Adriana Vizzari, who lives in St. Davids, told The Lake Report.
“Young families are moving in. This is a great opportunity for single-family homes.”
The specific area for the development is close to the intersection at Warner and Tanbark roads at the northeast corner, and around Chestnut and Tulip Tree roads in the south.
Vizzari said it’s important not to mix up phase one and phase two, as they are two different proposals.
Some St. Davids residents have opposed both parts of the proposed development.
An open house in 2023 about the proposed project brought 20 to 25 residents from the neighbourhood, letters and emails from 10 people and a petition.
Regarding phase one, residents have voiced at least one major concern, particularly about whether the drainage system can handle the now-approved development.
Stormwater infrastructure concerns have been growing in St. Davids, evident last summer when heavy rains caused several houses and backyards in the community to flood, leading to many calls for the municipality to upgrade its stormwater management system.
Coun. Gary Burroughs asked about this in council on June 17.
“How is each property’s stormwater being handled?” asked Burroughs. “Is there a storm drain on Tanbark?”
Kip Voege, a local resident, sees this as a make-or-break issue for this development.
“All development projects in the St. Davids urban boundary should be put on hold until sewage and stormwater issues have been properly resolved,” he said.
Darren MacKenzie, the town’s manager of public works, responded to Burroughs’ question by saying that there is a stormwater pond in Sparky’s Park that stormwater would go into.
Vizzari asked about the age and condition of the stormwater system at Sparky’s Park during the meeting, wondering if it would be able to handle new building construction in the area.
“We’ve never had any issues with Sparky’s Park as opposed to capacity issues or flooding or things like that,” said MacKenzie. “We’re required to inspect the pond annually.”
Burroughs asked council why there were unconventional council practices happening to get the project through.
“Why are we getting planning reports going through general and general reports going through planning?” said Burroughs. “I’m confused.”
Bruce Zvaniga, the town’s interim chief administrative officer, said it was to move the process along faster. He added that they would be willing to take direction from council if they want stricter rules on that.
Burroughs also raised concerns about how regularly the site around the construction would be cleaned. Kirsten McCauley, the town’s director of community and development services, said it would be cleaned “regularly.”
Vizzari asked what would happen with a report about the stormwater drainage issue, as well as for a timeline to get information out to a consultant.
MacKenzie said it would take three weeks to get the proposal to a consultant, and about two to three months for the consultant to review the information the two gives them.
With the second phase, residents have also complained about the proposed construction of mixed-density homes. Only low-density housing has been approved so far.
A draft plan for phase two of the project was approved with conditions in January 2024. NOTL communications coordinator Marah Minor said, “No further approvals related to satisfying those conditions have been brought forward at this time.
“The owner has three years from draft plan approval (Jan. 30, 2024) to clear conditions and register the subdivision agreement and plan.”
