WELLINGTON NORTH – Lawyers for Wellington North and a local developer are scheduled to meet next month over an appeal filed to the Ontario Land Tribunal last year.
North Arthur Developments Inc. owns land in northern Arthur that the company wants to develop into 155 single-detached homes and 57 townhouses.
The proposed development would occupy roughly 34 acres of land that is mostly vacant and occupied in part by a Clark Brothers Contracting building at 510 Eliza Street.
According to a 2021 planning report, the land “occupies the majority of the lands bounded by Eliza Street/County Road 14 and Tucker Street to the east, [a] former rail corridor to the south, a private right-of-way, and industrial land to the west, and future Macaulay Street to the north.”
The developer initially submitted applications to the township and Wellington County in 2021 to rezone and re-designate the land from industrial to residential.
A change to the county’s Official Plan in 2022 and 2023 re-designated the land to “greenfield area” — something the developer didn’t want.
Last summer, in response to the change, as well as other feedback from the municipalities and public, North Arthur Developments resubmitted applications to the township and county.
But the township “failed to approve the application” within the required time frame of 90 days, according to an October letter addressed to the township from Toronto-based law firm Davies Howe.
“The failure of the township to make a decision,” the letter states, is largely the reason for the appeal to the land tribunal, which makes rulings in land use disputes.
The letter goes on to note the development is proposed within the “urban centre” of Arthur, and contends the proposal is “appropriate” and “represents good planning and is in the public interest.”
The township will be represented by Toronto-based law firm Aird and Berlis.
The developer has also filed an appeal regarding the county’s Official Plan change, in part because the county plan outlines policies and guidelines for development within Wellington North.
