After a change in ownership, the new owners of the Red Maple subdivision are asking for three more years to get their plans in order.
An update on the Red Maple subdivision, slated to be erected at 725 Tenth Line in Collingwood, was presented at the development and operations services standing committee on Monday (March 14). The staff report recommended that council extend the draft approval for the subdivision for three more years.
The Red Maple subdivision application, which first came before council in June 2010 for its original approvals, has been held in limbo despite the first phase selling out many years ago.
The development last came before council three years ago asking for a three-year extension as they were having difficulty coming to an arrangement with two other area developers to build a new reservoir at Sixth Line and Stewart Road, which is necessary infrastructure to service their developments. That extension will lapse on March 25.
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The draft plan includes 278 units, broken down into 131 single detached homes, 56 freehold townhouses, and 91 condominium townhouses.
The development was sold in late 2021 to a numbered company. Colin Travis, of Travis and Associates, wrote a letter on behalf of the new owners as part of the extension request addressing servicing concerns.
“The new owners provide additional impetus to re-draft and finalize cost-sharing arrangements for the design and construction of the Stewart Road reservoir, a pumping station and the Tenth Line trunk water main,” wrote Travis. “The subject lands were, and remain, a crucial component in the logical extension of municipal services in this area.”
Where the issue becomes complicated is, town policies have changed since 2019 in regards to water allocation and before the new servicing capacity allocation policy comes into effect – which also received initial approval by the committee on Monday night – all existing plans of subdivision must be revised to incorporate new clauses to protect the town’s water supply.
For Red Maple, this means the developer must acknowledge that building permits will not be issued until the town is satisfied that adequate water, sewers, utilities and roads are available to the land, and that further pre-sales must cease until the town can confirm that capacity. Red Maple must also agree to other new clauses under topics such as best urban design guidelines and creating a construction management plan.
As part of discussions, Mayor Brian Saunderson said he’d be interested in putting forward a notice of motion to push developers to look at stormwater harvesting, which are systems that collect stormwater to be reused for non-drinking water tasks such as flushing toilets. The practice can also decrease the impacts of storm events.
“It seems to me we have an opportunity to establish Collingwood as a sustainable community as a result of the issues we’ve had,” he said. “A third of our freshwater goes down the toilet. We could save a third of our purified water.”
“It could also help with stormwater management,” said Saunderson.
Director of Public Works, Engineering and Environment Peggy Slama said the Red Maple subdivision development had already submitted some engineering designs so it might be too far down the path, however it was still something staff could look into for future developments.
The committee unanimously supported the Red Maple recommendation, with an amendment asking the developer to consider adding stormwater harvesting to their plans. It will be discussed at the next meeting of council on March 21 before a final vote.
At the end of the committee meeting, Saunderson also put forward a notice of motion asking staff to investigate how the town can work with developers to install stormwater harvesting systems. That motion will be considered at the March 28 council meeting.