KIM BURTON-SCHRAM
LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER
At the recent meeting, North Glengarry’s Township Council was presented with the request to permit four-storey apartments in the planned Ladouceur Subdivision in Alexandria. Currently, zoning bylaws only permit three-storey buildings with a maximum height of 12 metres. However, there already exists a few four-storey buildings within town limits, and even with the additional storey for the proposed Phase 1 Ladouceur apartments, the maximum permitted height will not be reached.
Each of the five, four-storey apartment buildings will contain 40 individual units to provide much needed housing in North Glengarry. The provincial government is spending over $2 billion to streamline and encourage affordable housing development by investing in the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Fund (MHIP) as well as the Housing-Enabled Water Systems Fund (HEWSF). As part of $1.3 billion for water and waste-water projects in Ontario, North Glengarry has been awarded $28 million to expand the Alexandria lagoons; a necessary step to allow new development.
According to Rob Flack, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, “We are taking bold action to protect Ontario in the face of economic uncertainty by speeding up construction so we can lower housing costs and keep workers on the job.” The focus is on building new homes as fast as possible and providing the needed infrastructure. The province seeks Canadian manufacturers with innovative materials and building designs that could reduce construction costs. As well, Ontario is establishing consistent building standards and local development fees across all municipalities to speed up the approval processes for new housing.
The need for housing development is brought to a local level in North Glengarry with families and individuals looking for affordable places to live. In Ontario alone, the necessary yearly household income to purchase a home is over $125,000. For many, that amount is unreachable, leaving residents to seek other types of housing. This is where apartments and townhomes serve great purpose, providing more affordable, multi-family housing in a smaller footprint.
A petition was presented at the Council meeting and accepted by the Township Clerk, bearing 166 signatures of residents who opposed the bylaw amendment to permit four-storey buildings, even though the overall height was not going to be above the currently permitted 12 metres. There was additional confusion over some of the wording in the proposal for the planned development regarding water and wastewater. While trying to be diligent in providing Council with as much information as possible, mention was made that, due to Alexandria’s wastewater currently at maximum capacity, the apartment buildings would have to provide private wastewater management.
Through direct inquiry with the Director of Building, By-Law and Planning for North Glengarry, Jacob Rheaume replied, “It (the planned Ladouceur Subdivision) is within the Urban Settlement Area of Alexandria, and it will require full services availability, aside from storm water which will be handled “on-site” with retention ponds, before it can be developed.” Council and the owners of the property to be developed have been made aware of this necessity. The owners of the Ladouceur Subdivision wanted to be sure they could proceed with the four-storey buildings before having more studies completed determining permitted development of the land. Building more housing in North Glengarry will allow the Township to grow and develop. It will welcome more people to fill available employment opportunities; bring children to fill the schools and keep them open; encourage medical care providers to live & work in Alexandria; and create a diverse, exciting community that respects Glengarry’s rural and agricultural roots.
