MAPLETON – Drayton residents filled the PMD Arena Tuesday to express their issues with a planned subdivision expansion behind their houses.
Drayton B.G. Inc. is proposing a revised version of a subdivision expansion originally approved more than 20 years ago. This would expand on an existing subdivision on Scenic Drive off Wellington County Road 11.
The original approved draft plan had 29 lots with a large park included in the design. The new design would have 28 lots, some larger than the previous design, and no parkland included.
The report to Mapleton council says Drayton B.G. Inc. will provide a payment in lieu of parkland.
Mayor Gregg Davidson allowed residents to voice their concerns despite no pre-registered delegates because he knew many members of the Scenic Drive community had come out to voice their concerns.
Shirley Borges, a Scenic Drive resident for more than 30 years, said she remembered disapproving of this expansion years ago when it was first proposed and some preliminary water work started.
She recalled some well holes were drilled behind the subdivision and then a number of residents experienced issues with their water. However, things seemed to come to a standstill on this development.
“It all seemed to die down and here we are today,” Borges said. “The room is full today with residents who have a lot of concerns. You don’t really care about a subdivision that is going somewhere else, but when it’s going in behind where you live, you care a lot.”
Borges acknowledged that it is probably too late to stop the subdivision but stressed that there should be a park included in the plan.
“There’s been a huge amount of trees planted in the proposed subdivision area,” resident Ken Sloan told council. “I just wondered if as part of the agreement some of those trees would be saved?”
Another resident said he loved the close-knit Scenic Drive community he recently moved to but wouldn’t have moved here if he was aware this subdivision was going to be built.
Other residents also agreed that a lack of a park was an issue and also felt this plan wasn’t communicated well to the current residents.
Davidson acknowledged these concerns but also stressed that council wasn’t forewarned about this either and would have learned about it at the same time as residents.
Council as whole agreed that this development should include a park block. Councillor Michael Martin said he wanted to congratulate the Scenic Drive community for their passion and email bombardment.
He explained he went through a similar experience when he moved to Moorefield.
“We weren’t actually aware there was a massive planned subdivision behind my house,” Martin said, noting he found out about it through a council meeting.
Linda Redmond from the county planning department said she would take the concerns from residents and bring them to the developer. This subdivision will have to go through the county planning committee and county council.
She said Mapleton council can provide a resolution of support or not for this plan at a later date.
Council chose to defer a resolution and directed staff to prepare a report based on residents’ concerns on saving trees, removing an easement, including park land and seeing if a water impact study is necessary.
