An affordable home builder says proposed changes to the plans for the Clair/Maltby area are putting a plan for between 500 to 1,000 affordable homes south of the city.
Options For Homes is a Toronto-based affordable home builder who has contracted with the Marcolongo family to build the units on a portion of their 105-acre property just south of Springfield Golf and Country Club.
A city council planning meeting Monday saw 20 delegates speak on the updated preferred community structure for Clair/Maltby.
Among them were three representatives of Options For Homes.
The change that affects the plans of Options For Homes and the Marcolongo family is the shifting of a community park onto the Marcolongo property that would take up a big chunk of land designated for the development.
“We were shocked and deeply concerned about the proposed move of the park to the site we have under contract,” Options For Homes’ Heather Tremain said. “We had no warning.”
Tremain said the housing is affordable, not social, housing. They make home ownership possible for people with lower incomes, she said.
Options For Homes calls itself “Canada’s largest developer working exclusively on making home ownership more affordable.”
Daniel Ger of Options For Homes said the park will reduce the potential for the proposed affordable housing plan by two thirds.
“I don’t know if that would be viable or not,” Ger said.
At the end of a six-and-a-half hour meeting, council voted to accept the overall plan from staff with the exception of the community park.
They directed staff to return to council in a few months wiith possible alternative locations for community park currently slated for the Marcolongo property.
The Marcolongo family also spoke Monday.
“It came as a complete shock when we were suddenly contacted by the city and advised of a major change to the community park/school site from our neighbours south of the Marcolongo Farm,” said Assunta Uffer-Marcolongo, the family matriarch.
“The amount of land available for affordable housing could be reduced from 35 acres to as little as 11 acres.”
The Marcolongos say they feel “betrayed” by the planning process.
The family said money from the sale of land to Options For Homes will go to the family’s Foundation for the Support of International Medical Training trust.
The city has set an affordable housing target of 30 per cent for Clair/Maltby.
Robin Lee Norris, representing a numbered development company in the Clair/Maltby area, said affordable housing is not the goal of any one landowner.
“Affordable housing is the responsibility of every single owner in the Clair/Maltby Secondary Plan area,” Norris said, “it is not the responsibility of one owner or two or three. It’s the responsibility of all of them.”
