St. Clair Township council has approved a recommendation to change the zoning of the former site of Murray Street Public School in Corunna to allow a proposed medical center to move to the next phase of development.
Proponents of the project, councilors and residents living near the proposed facility attended an April 18 public meeting to discuss the project.
The purpose of the meeting was for council to consider a zoning by-law amendment that would change the zoning of the former school site to commercial so that an office could be built on the property in the future.
Speaking to council about his planning report, Lambton County senior planner Ian MacDougall said that the proposed facility would be located on the corner of Hill and Murray Streets and would provide space for several doctors as well as a variety of other medical services.
“The current owner of the property has made the proposal to develop a portion of the property … for the St. Clair Medical Centre,” MacDougall told council. “The medical center will include … five general practitioners, radiology, physiology, pharmacy as well as a dentist.”
In his report, MacDougall recommended that council vote in favor of amending the official plan and the zoning by-law so that the applicants could proceed to enter into a site plan agreement with the township.
As part of their plan for the land, the owners are also hoping to rezone the former schoolyard into residential areas, MacDougall added, though the application to rezone that parcel of land from institutional to residential would take place at a later time.
Samway Storey Planning’s Tom Storey, the proponent’s planner, said he envisioned a facility that would provide a variety of sought-after services in the community, a facility that would also greatly improve the aesthetics of the neighborhood. The proposed new residential area would also fit in seamlessly with current neighbourhood, he added.
“The school there will be demolished, and the back part of the school where the playground area was will be converted into a residential area,” Storey said. “It’s very conceptual at this time and of course council will see it and have a chance to approve the draft plan and zoning when it comes forward, but we’re looking at mainly single detached dwellings and maybe a few semi-detached, which would give you a density not dissimilar to what’s in the neighborhood today.”
Local resident John Flesher expressed some of the concerns of neighbors during the meeting, though he said he was happy that the issues would be specifically addressed during the site plan agreement phase.
“(One of the neighbors’) concern was the parking on Murray Street,” he told council. “All of us know that people tend to crowd on both sides and don’t understand what the P in the red circle means. It creates that fatal funnel, so if the access is going to be off Murray Street, it may exacerbate the existing problem.
“And because of the fact we have the blend of the school property, the commercial and potential new residential … we want to discuss what type of buffer process between all of that,” Flesher added.
“In a similar vein, we’re asking that when the school comes down the abatement process for asbestos and other things, how that’s going to be done safely so it doesn’t affect the health of nearby people, particularly elderly people who live next door.”
Mayor Steve Arnold instructed MacDougall to make sure those issues would be addressed in any future site plan.
count. Pat Brown said that he thought the new facility would be a wonderful addition to the neighborhood.
“I’m just glad it looks like a beautiful building and I’m glad that … the old school will disappear.”
count. Rose Atkins said that council should pay particular attention to any potential lighting issues that could arise from the facility, specifically their impact on nearby residents.
“I know that outdoor lighting is usually included in a site plan, but perhaps we could use extra caution when we’re looking at lighting with regards to the residential development that may go in there,” she said.
Following the conclusion of the public meeting, council voted in favor of MacDougall’s recommendations. The next phase of the proposal is the site plan.