The Tawny Ridge subdivision in St. Davids, proposed to build up to 74 homes, has been limited by council to just 12 in a first phase. But a closed session of council a week later has critics of the project wondering if the grand plans for the subdivision may still be approved.
At a Jan. 30 council meeting, a total of four votes were taken related to zoning bylaw and Official Plan amendments requested for the first and second phases of the development. One of the key votes was to rezone the property to permit the development of a subdivision with just 12 lots for single-detached homes on Tanbark Road, as part of the first phase. This was approved, although Couns. Gary Burroughs and Sandra O’Connor voted against it.
In favour were Couns. Tim Balasiuk, Wendy Cheropita, Maria Mavridis, Adriana Vizzari and Nick Ruller. Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa and Deputy Lord Mayor Erwin Wiens, who participated in portions of the meeting virtually, were not present for the vote. A consideration to rezone the property to 20 lots for single-detached homes and 54 townhouses between Warner Avenue and Tanbark Road was shot down by council. Against this part of the plan were Couns. Balasiuk, Burroughs, O’Connor and Vizzari.
The result allows only a low-density development, not 74 homes.
But residents of St. Davids, including Bill Krahn, remain unsatisfied by that decision, with concerns about traffic, storm sewer capacity and lot sizes. Krahn said he also believes the dozens of homes proposed as phase two will eventually go through, and that council’s decision has only put a pause on those plans until the developer revises the proposal and comes back to the town with an updated application.
Also complicating the situation is a motion by Coun. Adriana Vizzari at a Jan. 16 committee-of-the-whole meeting where some recommendations were made, including aligning roads in both phases to allow for a pedestrian crosswalk.
Council and staff met behind closed doors last Tuesday to receive legal advice related to decisions made on the Tawny Road applications, then in public gave direction to staff that included suspending requirements to its procedural bylaw to allow the amending bylaws to be re-introduced.
Residents have said they fear the town may be opening the possibility of the plans for phase two still being approved.
The town also amended its zoning bylaw related to phase two and applied a holding provision on the property that restricts the land use until the requirements of the holding symbol have been met. In this case, the town has applied it to require a stormwater management strategy be addressed to the satisfaction of the town and prior to the final approval of the draft plan of subdivision.
St. Davids resident Gienek Ksiazkiewicz believes council’s changes following the recent closed session have put the project back on track for 74 homes. He is outspoken in his opinion that council “surreptitiously” voted for the amendment that would allow the high-density project to move ahead after all — with meetings and votes held in private, it’s impossible for residents to know what’s happening, he says.