Blocks of townhouses and a six to 10-storey apartment building have been approved for part of the former Victoria Park West Golf Club property.
In a recently released decision for a hearing held last summer, an Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) adjudicator endorsed settlement agreement between the City of Guelph and Victoria Village Park Inc. that allows for the creation of 268 townhouses and a 187-unit apartment building at 12 Poole St.
The appeal, which was heard over several days last August, was filed after city council unanimously rejected a plan in 2022 that included 308 townhouses on the site, along with the six to 10-storey apartment building.
City staff recommended council turn down the project, referring to it as “over-development" of the site.
Also included in the agreement are 13 surface parking spaces and 528 underground spots.
When presented to council in 2022, the plan called for 644 underground parking spaces and 18 surface spots.
This is the latest step in a long-discussed subdivision, initially proposed in 2005, that’s largely built-out at this point.
The entire 39.3-hectare subdivision was endorsed by the Ontario Municipal Board – a predecessor to the OLT – in 2013 to have 489 overall units. The pre-settlement plan sought to increase that by 325 dwellings.
When first announced in 2005, the project from then-owner Diodoro Investments Ltd. sought permission to build a 224-unit residential subdivision across the entire 39.3-hectare site.
It has since undergone numerous revisions, changed ownership and was the subject of an OMB appeal in 2013 due to city council’s lack of a decision on the proposal.
It’s that appeal which resulted in the overall subdivision plan settlement.
The first phase of the subdivision was registered with the city in 2017, with the second phase registered in 2021.
