Content item
Amendments to the document that outlines how St. Marys will grow over the next two decades are “very close” to being in front of councilors for approval, the town’s planner says.
Content item
Mark Stone provided an update regarding the town’s ongoing official plan review during a public meeting Tuesday. The meeting, which included a summary of public comments submitted to town hall over the past several months, was council’s first look at recommended changes to the official plan since the draft amendments were presented to the community at a virtual open house in December.
St. Marys is considering a number of policy tweaks to address a housing shortage estimated to require about 1,800 new dwellings in order to keep pace with growth between now and 2044. The town southwest of Stratford is expected to continue growing at a rate of about 1.5 per cent per year, reaching a total population of about 10,500 over the next 22 years, Stone said.
The changes being proposed in St. Marys include increasing maximum height and density limits to four stores and 90 units per hectare in some areas. That’s still “on the low end” compared to other municipalities, Stone said.
The amendments would also allow developers leeway in areas previous off limits, including the development of residential units on the ground floor of new commercial buildings downtown in some cases.
Policies requiring the character of a neighborhood to be considered when new builds are proposed have been “enhanced,” Stone added. “We believe there’s a higher level of rigor to ensure any new developments in residential areas are appropriate in keeping with the (character of the) town and neighborhoods.”
Content item
More information about the amendments is available on the St. Marys website.
Councilors will hold a vote on the draft amendments at a future meeting before the document is sent to the province for final approval.
St. Marys approves $50,000 in community grants
A June induction ceremony at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and the possible return of the St. Marys Homecoming Parade are among the events St. Marys council has supported with community grants this year.
Councilors set aside $5,000 for the hall of fame’s three-day induction celebration and another $5,000 for the homecoming parade, which hasn’t run due to the pandemic since 2019.
Organizers of the two events were among 14 applicants who successfully applied for grant funding this year. The 2022 budget in St. Marys included about $50,000 for the grants, which are handed out annually to eligible groups who organize projects in St. Marys that support culture and recreation, balanced growth, economic development, and housing.
Funding for this grants is drawn from the interest realized from the PUC reserve fund.