Wasaga residents ready to fight development pitch

A group of Wasaga Beach residents is rallying to fight a development they say doesn’t fit in with their neighbourhood.

A public meeting will be held on March 24 for comments on a zoning amendment that would allow a small forested area off 41st Street developed into a 56-unit townhouse project. There are also three already-established residential building lots on the site, for a total of 59 units.

However the residents say the original plan proposed more than a decade ago for 13 estate lots is more in keeping with what’s already in the neighbourhood

On Saturday, Lois Musselman mustered several of her neighbours together in her basement to start mapping out their opposition to what would be the fourth phase of Pine Valley.

“The thing that frustrates us this time is the sign went up last week, the letter came [Friday] … and the meeting is the 24th of March, so we only have 20 days to react,” Musselman said.

The residents are also concerned with traffic congestion, especially around Worsley Elementary on neighbouring 40th Street, lack of sidewalks, and the need for open space in the entire development that runs between Mosley and Knox Road West.

Musselman is also concerned with flooding that might come with clear-cutting the property, adding the small forested area is appreciated by the residents for its noise absorption from traffic along Mosley, protection from wind and snowstorms, and as habitat for a variety of animals and birds.

“We all care about this forest,” she said. “Every year, I see new deer born in there. There’s turkeys, foxes, raccoons, rabbits.”

Musselman and her husband Ken live in the first phase of Pine Valley Estates developed in 2004, and their home backs onto the small forest.

“It was zoned for about a dozen homes – that’s what we were told,” Musselman said.

About eight years ago, a rezoning proposal for the property came forward that proposed more than three times the number of units. At that time, said Musselman, the residents protested, and the proposal seemed to have gone away.

Residents say they’re surprised the fourth phase proposal has been resurrected with more units suggested than what was proposed in 2007.

“Progressively, the number went up from a small number, to double the small number,” said Ray Heyne. “There was a draft plan that was approved, and nothing ever came of it … it sat dormant ever since, and now it’s sort of been resurrected.

“There was protest at a lower number, and they’re aware of that, so why they think they can progressively increase the density and think it’s acceptable is crazy.”

Heyne has already brought his concerns to the municipality about existing congestion on the area residential streets.

“If there’s already safety issues and congestion problems, increasing it [by allowing the project to go ahead] is really not acceptable … or in keeping with the make-up of the neighbourhood,” he said. “I don’t think anybody is opposed [to the original plan] … It would be nice to say, ‘keep it as it is’. Short of that, keep it the way it was originally intended.

“The town already isn’t able to mitigate the issues and concerns the residents have – is it reasonable to add to an existing problem?”