Developers in Wellington North will have to follow new requirements as the township has updated its Municipal Servicing Standards (MSS) to include new guidelines for sidewalks, trees and streetlights.
Originally presented to council last summer, council deferred approving the MSS at the request of a developer who wished to review the document further.
While presenting his report to council on June 5, interim public works director Derek McCaughan said the document has been revised to reflect any changes.
The three major changes to the MSS include new requirements for sidewalk installation, placement of trees and street lights.
Sidewalks
“Sidewalks to nowhere” have been a point of contention for some developers. Randy Bye of H. Bye Construction appeared before council in June 2016 to ask council to commit to connecting his sidewalks to major road ways.
Developers will now be required to install sidewalks simultaneously with the construction of the subdivision. If a developer objects, they will need to appeal to council, stating in detail why sidewalks would not be beneficial.
“If by chance council chooses to exclude sidewalks from one subdivision and another subdivision adjacent to it goes forward with sidewalks, you have a gap in your sidewalk network and the only opportunity to correct it is if the township moved forward at its expense,” explained McCaughan.
Trees
Trees are still required to be planted in front of every lot, but now are required to be planted on private property rather than the municipal right of way.
In his report, McCaughan said planting in the right of way causes issues, including crowding in an already densely-used area of the street, root infiltration and adds to maintenance.
Councillor Sherry Burke asked how the township would make sure the trees would be planted.
“The standards do require trees on every property on the private property side. The difference between the old standard and the current one that’s being proposed, is that they used to be planted on the municipal property so the township had to maintain them,” said McCaughan.
“By placing it on the private property side, we no longer have that obligation.”
Streetlights
The new MSS calls for the placement of LED lighting in all new subdivisions, stated the report. McCaughan said LED is more energy efficient and represents a significant reduction in maintenance requirements.
Council voted unanimously to adopt the MSS updates. Councillor Dan Yake was absent.
