Although there’s still more work to be done, a plan for rowhouse dwellings in southwest Chatham took the next step on Monday night.
Municipal councilors approved an official plan amendment, as well as a zoning amendment, for 868-866 Park Ave. W., located on the south side of the road, east of Howard Street.
The applicant, Sankofa Capital Corp., is planning to build a four-unit rowhouse dwelling, with each unit having a detached garage fronting onto Park Avenue West.
The currently vacant lands are approximately 1,330 square meters in area. There will be a holding provision, which means development would be restricted until the property is adequately serviced.
Ryan Jacques, director of planning services, said there have been some concerns from residents, given various other nearby housing builds in recent years.
“Certainly this area of Chatham has seen a significant amount of construction in the general area over the past two to four years,” he said.
“(It’s) understandable that this has caused some nuisance and concerns to the residents in the area. That is likely to continue until the construction in this general area is largely completed over the next couple of years as well.”
Monday’s planning report stated that development in southwest Chatham “allows for a range of land uses” to be developed over time.
In the 1990s, the lands were designated medium-density residential and contained a single-detached dwelling at the time. Later in 2000, the lands were redesignated for office and service use to develop an office building similar to the adjacent lands, but this never proceeded.
The subject property currently does not have access to a municipal storm sewer since there is no storm sewer along the road at this location. There is currently municipal water and sanitary sewer infrastructure available.
“New development is required to manage stormwater on site and result in no negative impact to adjacent lands,” the report stated.
“Considering the design of the development, the developer has submitted a stormwater management plan outlining how the property can manage stormwater flows as four individual free-hold dwelling units.”
An application to remove the holding provision will return to council at a later date before construction takes place.