The city’s planning committee has approved plans for major housing development along Algonquin Road in the city’s South End.
The plan calls for a 154-unit project that will be built by Dalron, a Sudbury-based builder. The company wants to build 32 semi-detached homes, along with 122 condo-style housing units on 19.5 acres of land.
The property is located east of St. Benedict Catholic high school in the city's south end. The area is mostly zoned for low-density residential. To proceed, Dalton needed a zoning change from future development to a mix of low- and medium-residential zones.
While recommending approval, Greater Sudbury planning staff listed 31 conditions Dalron must meet to proceed. They include conducting a noise impact study and setting aside land for a future expansion of Highway 17. Dalron also has to prove the sewage system can handle the additional homes, prepare a stormwater management plan, pay for street lights and other road improvements, etc.
The full report can be found at agendasonline.greatersudbury.ca/
Dalron held a public meeting on March 18, and while the city hasn't heard officially from Dalron about exactly how it went, staff has received letters of concern related to increased traffic that will result from the new homes.
Ward 6 Coun. Andre Rivest took issue with the future development rezoning. If it's for the future, why is it being rezoned now, he asked staff, when there are already plenty of areas available for development.
“It’s a bit unclear to me,” Rivest said.
He was told that the future development designation aims to avoid piecemeal development in areas where developers plan to build, rather than trying to limit where development occurs or when. So once homebuilders are ready to move ahead with construction, they can apply for the rezoning.
Ward 4 Coun. Evelyn Dutrisac asked why no traffic study was required as part of the approvals process. Roads director Dave Shelsted said there are currently 2,000 trips a day on Algonquin Road, which has the capacity to handle 10,000 trips a day. The proposed development wouldn’t come close to pushing the roadway to capacity.
Matt Dumont, a planner with Dalron, said 7.2% of the property would be dedicated to parkland, exceeding the provincial requirement of 5%. He also said 88 of the units won't be developed until Dalron develops two streets in the area to accommodate the housing units.
Unlike many other housing development plans in the South end recently, no public delegation was present to object to the proposal. It was easily approved by the planning committee, which Ward 8 Coun. Fabio Belli commenting that with a $1.4 billion infrastructure deficit, the city needs all the new residential tax revenue it can get.
