Niagara-on-the-Lake council approved the construction of homes in west Virgil during its general committee of the whole meeting on June 17.

The development, known as Phase 2 of the Konik Estates, will be built north of Line 2 Road, east of Concession 6 Road, south of Homestead Drive, and west of Frontier Drive. It includes 52 single-detached lots and three townhouse blocks.

Much of the discussion focused on tree removal.

In July 2024, the developer agreed to retain three rows of trees as a buffer between the new homes and neighbouring properties. However, Coun. Wendy Cheropita, who chaired the meeting, said the removal of these trees remains a concern for local residents.

“Residents were very unhappy about losing this line of trees,” she said. “Now the new trees that go in won’t even be as high as the fence.”

Although the original agreement called for preserving two rows of trees, the developer removed one of them and the other was later taken down after a health assessment found the trees posed a risk during windstorms.

“There were issues related to the stability of that row of trees,” said Kristen McCauley, the town’s director of community and development services.

“So, we agreed, following a health assessment of that row of trees … that that row of trees was removed.”

McCauley said a condition of removing the final row was that the developer must install a fence — already in place — and replace the trees with “mature” ones at least 50 millimetres in diameter.

Cheropita questioned whether council should regulate the height of replacement trees.

In response, Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa said introducing new conditions now could be seen as unfair to the developer.

“If you wanted to drop these in, you should have done it last year,” he said.

“We’re offside.”

Coun. Gary Burroughs asked when construction would begin, expressing concern that projects are approved but not completed.

“As we continue to approve more and more residential lots, is there actually a timetable for getting them built?” he said. “Is it in these agreements or is it open-ended?”

McCauley said the developer is “motivated to construct,” having already submitted plan registrations. She added that construction must begin within three years of the draft plan’s approval in July 2024.

According to the council report, the developer is responsible for all costs associated with the project.

daniel@niagaranow.com