(Posted 3:30 a.m., April 15)
Cumberland residents upset over proposed expansion of urban boundary
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

Residents listen to a city planner explain the rationale behind the possible expansion of the east urban boundary into the former municipality of Cumberland to accommodate the construction of 4,280 new homes. Fred Sherwin/Photo

More than 200 residents packed the Lions Maple Hall in Cumberland Village last night to find out more about the proposed expansion of the east urban boundary beyond Trim Road.

The standing room only crowd heard city planner Leslie Patterson explain that the city is considering increasing the amount of vacant land available for development by 850 hectares, which would give it a large enough surplus to meet the it's needs for the next 22 years.

But to do so will require expanding the city's urban boundary. Staff is currently assessing 11 different possible locations where expansion can take place. The total size of the areas is 2,000 gross hectares,

One of the locations being considered is an area bordered by Cardinal Creek in the west, Old Montreal Road in the north, Ted Kelly Lane and Frank Kenney Road in the east and Innes Road in the south.

The total area being considered is 337 acres and Tamarack homes has either purchased on holds options on most of the land in question except for a couple of pockets here and there including Laporte's Flowers and Nursery, the Capital City Church and a the proposed site of a crematorium owned by Hulse, Playfair and McGarry.

The land is currently zoned general rural which allows for single family dwellings on two acre estate lots. Tamarack wants to rezone the land general urban which would allow the developer to build up to 25 dwellings per acre. Given the size of the area in question it would equate to 4,280 homes that would house up to 12,500 people.

In order for the development to proceed would first require city council to approve the proposal to expand the east urban boundary. The developer, in this case Tamarack, would then have to work with the city in coming up with a subdivision plan containing the necessary infrastructure to support the development and then they would be guided in their ability to build the new homes by existing market pressures.

The Cumberland Village Community Association, and Tamara Belle-Isle in particular, is leading the fight against the proposed expansion of the east urban boundary and Tamarack's plans,

Belle-Isle says the city already has enough vacant land to deal with the demand for new homes for the next 13 years, so why the rush.

During her opening presentation she pointed out a number of concerns Cumberland area residents have over the planned development. In particular, they're worried about the potential impact an additional 12,500 residents will have on local traffic and the water supply for the hundreds of residents living east of the designated area, including Cumberland Village, who have wells.

Her overriding argument was that the east end does not have the necessary infrastructure to support 4,300 new homes. To support her argument she pointed out that the current road system is already inadequate when it comes to being able to deal with the current population.

"We're not against building more single family homes on two acre lots, that's progress. But what we don't want is another Orléans-type development," said Belle-Isle."If you rezone it urban, that will open the floodgates."

Staff's own evaluation of the parcel of land in question rates the ability of the existing transportation network to support future development as zero in a scale of zero to four. Cumberland Ward Coun. Rob Jellett says that alone should raise an enormous red flag over what staff is proposing,

Patterson told the audience that staff plans to recommend that council place a list of future requirements and guidelines in the Official Plan which will have to be met before any development can take place.

Jellett said his first course of action will be to try and persuade his colleagues on city council to reject the proposed expansion of the east urban boundary. At the same time, he wants to try and get the planning department to modify the criteria it uses to evaluate the proposed areas slated for expansion so that they better reflect the issues, especially as they pertain to the existing road network and transportation.

"We need to change the criteria in terms of weighting. When transportation gets a zero, that's a pretty important one, We should be asking ourselves why are we even considering this," said Jellett.

Everyone at the meeting was encouraged to sign a petition calling on the city to defer the expansion of the east urban boundary for at least five years. They were also encouraged to voice their concerns and objections to the city councillors via e-mail and make a point of attending a series of three meetings at city hall on May 11 and 12 during which members of the public can make presentations.

Council will debate and vote on changes to the Official Plan, including the possible expansion of the city's urban boundary, on May 27.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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