Two delayed developments could finally be making progress in Bradford, proposing a combined 53 new townhouses.
First, council approved an application by First View Homes (Scarborough) Inc. for a subdivision agreement for Block 106, Registered Plan 51M-1133, also known as 391 West Park Ave., during the regular council meeting on Tuesday evening May 7.
That came in response to a report from Ray Kelso, senior planner for the town, which explained the developer is looking to build 38 townhouses connected to West Park by a future cul-de-sac to be called Elgin Court on the 1.18-hectare property, which is bordered by West Park to the west, the Canadian Tire to the north, semi-detached houses fronting Blackwell Crescent to the east, and existing townhouses fronting Veterans Street to the south.
Ward 4 Coun. Joseph Giordano asked if council could require First View Homes to help cover the cost of speed mitigation on the effected portion of West Park, and while that is technically possible, Alan Wiebe, manager of community planning, explained it would require changing the conditions of the approval which would require a new notice process and come with a new appeal period.
Deputy Mayor Raj Sandhu suggested staff could still reach out to the developer and ask for their voluntary assistance instead.
“All we can do is ask. If they say ‘no,’ it’s a ‘no,’ ” he said.
Ward 5 Coun. Peter Ferragine agreed with that approach.
“If they are a good team player within the community, I don’t see them having a problem adding something to keep everybody happy,” he said.
While the draft plan of subdivision for the site was previously approved by council on May 3, 2022, following a recommendation from committee of the whole that April, the necessary agreements remained outstanding with the application for subdivision agreement submitted on March 14, 2024, according to the report.
Since the property is one of the last vacant pieces of the Centreville development, Kelso explained it will share a stormwater pond, water and sewer services as well as parkland with the rest of that development, which began more than 20 years ago when plans were first submitted to the town in 2003.
Before the 2022 approval to rezone the area for townhouses, the property had previously been considered for an apartment building and before that a retirement home.
Balancing commercial needs
As the next order of business, council approved amending the subdivision agreement requested by Bradford Capital Holdings Inc. for Block 403, Registered Plan 51M-1063, also known as the southeast corner of Inverness Way and Line 6.
That came in response to a separate report by Kelso who explained the developer is planning to build 15 townhouses on the 0.39-hectare property, which will not need any new roads built and is currently a vacant field.
The property is bordered by Inverness to the west, Line 6 to the north, Fortis Crescent to the east and existing townhouses and semi-detached houses to the south.
According to the report, Bradford Capital Holdings originally submitted an application in October of 2019 to rezone the property from commercial to residential, but in August 2020, council noted concerns over the lack of proposed commercial development in the area.
As there was no decision within 90 days, the developer filed an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), and in June of 2023, the town and the developer reached a resolution and entered into minutes of settlement.
Through that process, the developer agreed to begin work to develop Block 404 — about 390 metres to the east along Line 6 — for commercial use, and the application to rezone that property was approved by council earlier this year on Jan. 19.
A site plan for that property has also been received and while it has not yet been deemed complete by town staff, work is far enough along that staff recommended entering into the amended subdivision agreement to allow the residential development of Block 403.
As the property will connect with an existing development, it will be able to share stormwater management but road work is expected to be necessary to create connections to water and sewer services.
Additional cash in lieu of parkland will also be required.
Council approved the agreement without discussion.
--With files from Patrick Bales
