ELORA – Almost three hundred new townhouses will likely be built on the west side of Wellington Road 7 in Elora-Salem, and the developer says the intention is to create “affordable housing.”
Centre Wellington council approved the application for a townhouse development at 350 Wellington Road 7 at a Sept. 25 meeting.
The plan is for three rows of four-storey townhouses. The front row would be live/work units that accommodate space for small businesses such as an office.
The middle row would be back-to-back townhouses, and the back row would be traditional townhouses.
The owners and developers, WMS Inc. and Elora 7 OP, plan to build 271 townhouses, but council has granted approval for up to 280.
The plan includes 598 parking spaces, including garages, driveways and visitor parking.
A multi-use path for foot traffic and cycling is expected along Wellington Road 7, to direct pedestrians to the intersection of Wellington Road 7 and David Street.
The subject land is almost five hectares (11 acres) of currently vacant land on the west side of the road.
On the east side of the road are residential and institutional buildings, and to the west of the site is agricultural land.
The current zoning of the site is C2 highway commercial, but council passed a bylaw to amend the zoning to C2.49.1 highway commercial exception.
The development application included a number of reports and plans that have been reviewed by township staff and consultants, including a planning report, traffic impact study, noise study, environmental impact study, hydrogeological study and functional servicing report.
A public meeting regarding the development application was held on May 31.
During the meeting an adjacent land owner expressed concerns about how the development would impact their farm, and the developers’ team said they would address the concerns in future submissions and through future site plan approval.
One letter opposing the development of the site was submitted.
Centre Wellington’s Sept. 25 report to council states “the site, while vacant, has been part of the designated urban centre of Elora-Salem since the County of Wellington Official Plan came into effect in 1998, is located on an arterial road, and has access to urban services.”
