2 Friday, June 4, 2021brooklintowncrier.com "Proud to be a Brooklinite" Founded in 2000 and published 24 times per year. Editor, Richard Bercuson 613-769-8629 • editorofbtc@gmail.com The Brooklin Town Crier is locally owned and operated and is a publication of Appletree Graphic Design Inc. We accept advertising in good faith but do not endorse advertisers nor advertisements. All editorial submissions are subject to editing. For advertising information, contact: 905.706.0482 Email: mulcahy42@rogers.com Next Issue: Friday, June 18, 2021 Deadline: Friday, June 11, 2021 During COVID-19 dates are subject to change. There are 17 homes and homeowners on Camber Court, a quiet street that faces the Brooklin Con- crete (BC) site. Every one of them agreed to form an association to look at the mas- sive development soon to hap- pen literally across from them. Two individuals stepped up as co-chairs and the group hired an urban planner to investigate what they could do to work with Geranium Corporation, the On- tario company that will develop the 11.35 hectare (28 acres) site. As one of the co-chairs, Steve Forman, noted, this will be the first major development in Brooklin that will directly affect homes. Apart from the construc- tion time, expected to be around five years to completion, a myriad of issues face C a m b e r Court resi- dents. How- ever, Forman states the de- veloper has, so far, said all the right things. "We're not against development," he said following a May 18 virtual meeting with Geranium. "We're also not against rezoning pro- vided Geranium addresses our concerns. We've become pretty knowledgeable on zoning. We just want them to work with us." Among the key issues facing the residents are: stacked town- homes on an already elevated chunk of land at the corner of Camber and Columbus, parking, and buffers across the street. The proposed five units of four- storey stacked townhomes would be directly across from Camber's first few homes. After meeting with the company, Ge- ranium countered by eliminating one unit, however the residents want the four storeys reduced to three. "If they will do that, For- man adds, "the rest is manage- able." For the buffer zone, Geranium has offered to plant 16-20 ft. evergreens on the east side of Camber along with building fenc- ing. It even asked what kind of fencing residents preferred. This would mean Camber's homes would wind up facing the back doors of a treed, fenced residen- tial community, an improvement over the status quo. The parking issue revolves around the fact that there will be about 900 dwellings of vari- ous sizes which could translate to about 2,000 people. Forman notes that they're allotted one space per dwelling with 0.2 extra for visitors. Where will the over- flow go? Camber's homeown- ers fear much of it will end up on their short street. What are Ge- ranium and the town prepared to do about it? Then there's the issue of the pro- posed 12-storey residential/com- mercial building on the corner of Baldwin and Columbus. While the building's size and location don't directly affect Camber, the parking very well may. Neither Baldwin nor Columbus can allow parking which means that the building's condo residents, visi- tors, and commercial clients and staff will need to go somewhere. Of greater importance is that Brooklin will no longer just be a quaint community of low level homes and buildings. A 12-sto- rey edifice may aim to help in- crease density as per provincial legislation (see Councillor Steve Lee's column). But it doesn't fit. The Camber homeowners can't do anything about it and perhaps nor can anyone else. And sadly, it may just be the start. Less than half the picture: By Richard Bercuson Meanwhile, on Camber Court… 905.655.6200 • www.brooklineyecare.ca Sunglasses for • biking • running • golf • fishing • fashion & more Rx Swim Goggles Contact Lenses Laser Vision Correction Vision Solutions for Everyone and Everything The 412-418 tolls are still there.