Chatham-Kent, like most Ontario communities, needs housing and the municipal council will be presented with options at Monday’s meeting to make it happen.
Chatham-Kent, like most Ontario communities, needs housing and the municipal council will be presented with options at Monday’s meeting to make it happen.
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A municipal staff report recommends council support a proposal to build a new residential building with as many as 14 units on a huge Chatham property now home to one single-detached house.
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Hensar Corp. is seeking a zoning bylaw amendment for the 1,616-square-meter (17,400-square-foot) lot at 125 McNaughton Ave. W. to allow development of a single-storey, multi-unit residential building and on-site parking, onsite parking.
“This proposed dwelling type is in response to increasing market demand for varied housing types,” the report said.
If the final plan includes more than 10 units, it would be subject to site plan approval, meaning site functionality, including parking, access, servicing and stormwater management, “will be thoroughly reviewed,” the report said.
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The recommendation has changed from one presented in June to limit the building’s height to 4.5 meters, keeping it a single-storey structure. The original recommendation called for a 9.75 m height permitted for dwellings such as fourplexes and rowhouses.
The report also addressed concerns, raised by three residents on neighboring Oak Grove Lane at an Oct. 16 meeting, that the application was incomplete and did not fully conform to Chatham-Kent’s official plan, that reducing zoning performance standards was unjustified, and that there were stormwater management and landscaping issues.
Also Monday, staff will recommend council approve a housing pledge sought by the province to help address Ontario’s housing crisis.
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The pledge stems from the provincial government’s Strong Mayor Powers and Building Faster Fund initiatives to build 1.5 million new homes across Ontario by 2031.
Council had declined the strong mayor powers twice, but the province imposed it on the municipality, which will receive yet to be specified provincial funding to help meet its housing target.
By signing the pledge, Chatham-Kent will commit to building 1,100 new homes by 2031, including 81 new dwellings this year, 91 in 2024 and 110 units in 2025.
Chatham-Kent is well ahead of schedule with 444 residential building permits issued by the end of October, staff said.
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