ROCKWOOD – A townhouse complex planned for north Rockwood isn’t fully welcomed by the nearby community.
On Monday the Township of Guelph/Eramosa held a public teleconference meeting regarding a 51-unit two-storey townhouse development on a private cul-de-sac next to Sacred Heart Catholic School off Wellington Rd. 27.
Included in the plan are sidewalks, a common amenity area and 17 visitor parking spaces.
The 1.5-hectare lot needs to be rezoned to allow for the townhouses to face onto a private road, which will be built just south of Edgar Bonner Avenue.
A resident of the nearby Fernbrook subdivision made it clear that they aren’t impressed with this plan.
A delegation letter from Suzanne Watson said she and her husband recently moved here and were under the impression that a church would be built in the vacant lot.
Watson was particularly concerned about the noise level for children who have returned to class and her plan for a quiet retirement life.
“How did we go from a quiet field looking out to the new school and a future church and church parking lot to these elaborate plans?” Watson asked in her letter.
“Has our dream of living in a beautiful little Ontario town in retirement going to be turned into a nightmare?”
Mayor Chris White clarified at the meeting that this lot has been slated for residential development for years and was never specifically meant for a church.
Watson said that she and her husband are not the only ones on Edgar Bonner Avenue who aren’t in favour of this.
“The majority of the people who have just moved in on Edgar Bonner in those little bungalows are retired and very sad that so called ‘progress’ is going to be spoiling our retirement dreams,” Watson said.
However, nobody spoke in opposition to this development at the meeting.
Councillor Corey Woods said he found that hard to believe.
“We have received some comments emailed to the township opposed to the application which is to be expected,” Woods said to council. “I’m surprised there was nobody there waiting to speak.”
The mayor said that he wasn’t able to open the phone line back up due to legislative reasons but said comments can still be submitted to the clerk if they were unable to make it through to the teleconference.
Woods also said he doesn’t agree with the proposed density but will hold his comments until a future meeting where a decision will be made on the zoning.
