Townhouses built with smaller front yards than permitted
MOUNT FOREST – The front yards of four new townhouses on Durham Street here are smaller than what Wellington North approved.
Wilson Developments came before council in October for a bylaw amendment to permit the development, which had considerable push back from neighbours and councillors.
The amendment was approved, permitting the two-bedroom, two-bathroom single-storey townhouses set back nine metres from the road.
Nine metres was determined as a site-specific exemption for minimum front yard set back to create a consistent streetscape.
But the townhouses, now partially constructed at 345 Durham St. E., don’t have 9m front yard set backs – they’re built 7.57m from the road.
The developers returned to council on March 9 to request approval for the 7.57m set back, and council granted approval unanimously without comments, questions or discussion.
Dana Kieffer from Cobide Engineering attended the meeting and said “When the site plan was prepared by Van Harten ... that set back was not communicated to them.
“And normally this would be then submitted to the township and caught at that level, but unfortunately it wasn’t caught there.”
Now, she said the foundation has been poured and the building is partially framed with a 7.57 setback, so the developer is asking for approval for the reduced set back so construction can continue.
Neighbours Annette and Bob Fox opposed the initial application to build the four townhouses, and are not impressed to see the developer return to council asking for a further setback reduction – especially at this stage, when the construction of the townhouses is already well underway.
“Does Wilson development not know how to use a tape measure?” the Foxes asked in an email. “Or did they just figure they’d build these townhouses wherever they wanted and ask for forgiveness after the fact?”
They added, “We say make them tear it all down and move it back to where they were supposed to build them in the first place.”
Their email goes on to highlight comments from council made to the Community News in August about the importance of developers adhering to the township’s bylaws, including concerns about ensuring space for parking and snow storage.
