Rockwood’s Noble Ridge subdivision will likely be the site of 85 new townhouse condominiums pending county approval.
Guelph-Eramosa council entered into a condominium agreement with Charleston Homes for the area of the Noble Ridge development set aside for the townhouses at the July 28 special meeting of council. The site is accessed from Jolliffe Avenue and is serviced by three private roads, Juniper Street, Linden Avenue and Hickory Drive.
The site has already received approval for a zoning bylaw amendment to rezone the entire property for townhouses and detached and semi-detached homes. The subdivision and vacant land condos have been built or are currently under construction and the last portion of the development seeking site plan approval is the standard condominiums.
Wellington County has the final say regarding site plan approval for this type of development, however, the developer must first enter into an agreement with the township, planning associate Kelsey Lang explained at the meeting. “The applicant is requesting that we enter into this agreement because it gets him closer to final approval for county,” Lang explained.
Lang said there were also conditions laid out that the developer needed to satisfy with other parties such as the school boards and the Grand River Conservation Authority. Lang said the applicant will not receive final approval from the county until all conditions are met.
Guelph-Eramosa Mayor Chris White made it clear that he was looking to avoid mistakes and complications that have been made surrounding subdivision developments in the past.
“Is this where we’re building all the teeth in around hours of work and any of that stuff,” he asked. “We had some concerns with the current subdivision going in, noise, dust, all that nuisance stuff.” And he said he wants to address potential concerns before they become an issue.
Lang said that because there was a previous agreement for the entire property the stipulations must be honoured.
“Should council wish to provide direction I think we have to look at a separate understanding between ourselves and the developer for some of these things,” CAO Kim Wingrove said.
White asked that these “nuisance” concerns, like street sweeping, hours of operation and noise be worked into future agreements.
For the Noble Ridge development however, council has directed staff to create a document that outlines how the township wishes these “nuisance” concerns be addressed.
