KENILWORTH – At least one Mount Forest resident is concerned that adding commercial development to the existing No Frills location will mean more traffic headaches.
“I live down the road from where they want to build, and that corner is a nightmare already,” said Kathleen Fink, who stood up to voice her concerns at a public meeting on Oct. 7.
“There is so much traffic being diverted into other subdivisions to bypass that corner, so adding more traffic to it is a big mistake,” she said.
The meeting was aimed at gathering feedback on a proposal to rezone land that includes the No Frills and vacant land along Sligo Road, to the southeast of the No Frills store to a “shopping centre commercial site specific zone” to allow the development of two additional retail units totaling 2,179 square metres.
The applicant, CP REIT Ontario Properties Limited, has also applied to the county for an Official Plan amendment to designate the lands to “highway commercial” to facilitate the development of the vacant portion of the property.
Speaking on behalf of the applicant, Robert MacFarlane, a planner from Zelinka Priamo Ltd., gave a brief presentation on the proposed development.
He did not say what the new commercial units might be, but called it “a natural continuation” of the existing commercial uses.
Currently, there is a gas station located at the corner of Main Street and Mount Forest Drive, and the grocery store is located in the north corner of the site along Mount Forest Drive. These two businesses would remain.
The key change proposed would be the extension of the development into space that is currently vacant between the grocery store and Sligo Road.
Along with the new commercial units, 311 parking spaces are proposed, MacFarlane said.
That would be the number of spaces “throughout most of the year,” he said, noting it would drop down to 281 in the summer months when some of the spaces would be occupied by a seasonal garden centre.
The site-specific zoning is required to allow for this reduced number of parking spaces.
Robert McArthur, a resident of Sligo Road whose property backs onto the proposed development, expressed approval that something was being planned for the vacant land.
“I’m glad to see something happening to that,” McArthur said.
His main concerns were that he might be allowed a gate into his backyard through the fence that is being proposed between the property and neighbouring residential properties, and that light pollution from the development might be an issue.
MacFarlane said the issue of backyard access could be addressed later in the process.
“We’re not at the stage where we’re discussing detailed design” he said.
As for the lighting issue, township chief building official Darren Jones told McArthur the township’s zoning bylaw requires “dark-sky compliant” lighting to ensure glare and light is contained within the property.
MacFarlane also added the point that there is an area of landscaping planned between the property and private residences that would provide a buffer.
Fink then spoke a second time to reiterate her concerns about traffic, and to ask whether the “highway commercial” designation would classify Sligo Road as a highway.
“I just don’t want any more traffic,” she said. “It used to take me five minutes to get to work; now it takes me 20.”
County senior planner Jessica Rahim said a traffic impact study would be reviewed in more detail at the site plan approval stage.
The highway commercial designation applies only to the property, not the surrounding roadways.
The proposal for the site, as MacFarlane presented it, would include a new access to the southeast on Sligo Road. The existing driveways on Mount Forest Drive would stay as they are, and the Main Street access would allow only right turns in and out of the property.
Public feedback will be considered by planning staff as they prepare a final recommendation report to council on the Official Plan amendment and a draft zoning bylaw amendment for council’s consideration.
