Perth County council defers decision on proposed Sebringville development

Perth County council has delayed its decision on an official plan amendment needed to move a potential Sebringville housing development one step closer to approval.

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Proposed by the Baker Planning Group, the proposed development on Station Road in the Perth South hamlet would include 308 total housing units — 92 single detached dwellings, 168 apartment units and 42 townhouses.

The proposed amendment, recommended in a report by county planner Jeff Bannon, would have permitted a zoning bylaw change to allow up to three storeys and 24 units per apartment building. While the amendment would not have given full approval to the development, council still opted to delay the decision until an environmental assessment, which will help gauge if municipal services have sufficient capacity for the new households, can be completed.

Council’s Thursday decision came in the wake of a public meeting held earlier in the day where roughly three-dozen residents voiced concerns about the proposed development. One of those residents, Adrienne Tuling, spoke as a representative of Get Concerned Perth County, which is calling for a greater participation by residents in the process.

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“It is important to consider that your constituents are here today not to complain, but to advocate for the same communities you call home and were elected to represent,” Tuling said.

Residents who are concerned with aspects of the proposal are not anti-development, she emphasized during her remarks to council. These concerns, Tuling added, stem from the potential for council’s decision to “propel us forward or cost us early.” She noted that Sebringville does not currently have a single apartment building with as many as 24 units.

Another resident, Doug Luckhart, who has lived in the area for his entire life, expressed concerns that not enough work had yet gone into studying the potential impacts of the development.

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“They’ve done some work,” Luckhart said in an interview following the public meeting. “Certain things are not there. They seem to want to omit certain things, or turn a blind eye to it. Either you’re all in or you’re all out. You’re gonna follow the rules, all the rules, or none of the rules. I got a bad feeling it might be none of the rules.”

This sentiment was echoed by one member of council during the later discussion. Hugh McDermid, a Perth East councillor, called the project “interesting” but said he would like a lot more information before voting to proceed. His particular concern involved sewage since there’s source-water protection near the proposed location.

If the development does not get approved, North Perth Coun. Todd Kasenberg said he would rather have the project stopped at the earliest possible stage before the developer spent a lot more money trying to make it work.

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“So for me, I’m not comfortable with this resolution,” Kasenberg said of the proposed amendment.

If the environmental assessment determines that servicing the development is not possible, the project would not proceed, and the developer would need to revisit the revised assessment to find an acceptable solution, Bannon said. The environmental assessment is set to be completed in the late summer or early fall, Bannon added.

Tuling expressed relief following council’s post-discussion vote to delay the official plan amendment.

“It’s responsible to wait to grant an approval when we are confident that the land can be serviced as they request,” she said in an interview.

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