‘The development will destroy everything’: Wasaga residents fear impact of high-density housing project

Neighbours of a proposed 215-unit residential development in Wasaga Beach’s west end fear it could have an array of negative impacts, from a loss of property value to degradation of habitat.

A virtual open house will be held on June 23 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. for the developer to lay out plans for the property, currently a stretch of woodland and wetlands between Beachwood Road and homes that front onto Shore Lane.

The developer, Beachwood Developments Inc., has filed official plan and zoning amendments to the town that would redesignate the property from low to high density. Town officials say those applications were deemed complete in April, and were circulated to commenting agencies with a deadline to respond by June 11.

A formal public meeting is anticipated to be held in August. A request for comment from a representative for the development had not yet been responded to prior to The Sun‘s publication deadline.

However, residents of the area have already begun to mobilize and, on June 11, Shore Lane resident Gerard Dusastre launched an online petition asking council not to accept the application.

As of June 15, the petition had garnered more than 400 signatures.

“The development will destroy everything here,” Dusastre told Simcoe.com.

The project, as proposed, includes two six-storey apartments with a combined 134 condominium units. The remainder of the units would be single-detached homes, and 48 townhouses.

The six-storey buildings and townhouse blocks would front onto Beachwood, with access to neighbouring streets through an internal road system, while the single-detached homes would back onto the existing neighbourhood on Shore Lane.

The developer is also proposing to connect Betty Boulevard to Shore Lane — which currently ends in a cul-de-sac — on a road allowance that is currently home to a section of the Shore Lane Trail.

Dusastre also raised concerns about the ability of local stormwater infrastructure to handle the additional pressure of draining a sizable hardscaped area — not only on the east side of Beachwood Road, but also the west side where an additional 204 units are proposed in a separate project.

The Beachwood Developments proposal includes plans for a stormwater management pond.

Dusastre said he would be OK if the project was for individual homes, similar to what is already in the area.

“This is a very special place in Wasaga,” he said. “It’s very private, very quiet.

“Development will damage everything here.”

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Visit the Save Beachwood Website

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See the next articles in this story: ‘It’s shocking’: Wasaga residents raise concerns with level of development on Beachwood, West-end Wasaga residents step up campaign against high-density residential project, and ‘Major constraints’: NVCA wants more work done to justify Wasaga Beach development