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Neighbours list concerns about planned Eden Oak townhouse development CYNTHIA GAMBLE Staff Writer Plans to build 147 townhouses in Georgetown's northwest end prompted half a dozen residents to speak up at a public meeting at the Civic Centre last week. Eden Oak (Main St.) Inc. has applied for zoning and Official Plan changes to allow for the freehold condominium townhouse development on the northwest corner of Main St. at Carruthers Rd.-- just south of Moore Park Plaza. The amendments will change the designation on the property from low density residential to medium density residential to allow 50 units per hectare (20/acre). The land is currently vacant, but is being used as a temporary staging area by Main St. South reconstruction contractors. Approximately 20 residents listened in the public gallery as seven residents listed their concerns about the proposal. Topping the list is the traffic impact, generated by approximately another 300 people, in an already congested and dangerous driving area. Main St. N. resident Bruce Andrews requested that there be no entrance into the project from Main St. N. across from Kennedy Rd., that the Ewing St./Carruthers Rd. intersection on Main St. get a full service traffic light, plus a left-hand turn lane and that another exit from Carruthers Rd. be considered. "This (turning lane) would accommodate the approximately 300 extra cars that would be entering the subdivision, and also there would a backup of traffic over the railway bridge and down the hill at peak traffic periods if a lane is not installed," he said. Eden Oak planning consultant Glenn Wellings said a traffic impact study has been prepared and is currently being reviewed, noting that many of the issues are existing conditions. "There are clearly challenges for this area, no question about it, and so we'll work through that with Town staff and I'm sure that will come back as an item in a future staff report," he said. Other citizen concerns included: impact on property values and taxes, number of units proposed and their selling price, available school accommodation, construction timing, water availability and impact on the water pressure in the neighbourhood, sewer problems on Carruthers Rd., rail line safety, Carruthers Rd. street parking, pedestrian safety on narrow neighbouring roads, impact on Town recreation facilities, lack of notice, the imbalance between the high density (and subsidized) housing in north Georgetown compared to Georgetown South and the proliferation of absentee landlords. Wellings called the proposal "a good fit" for the area that will provide a transition from the high-density Carruthers Rd. apartments to the lower density singledetached homes across the street and to the north and the west. No water allocation is currently available for this project said Wellings, "and we're hoping that can be resolved in the short term." He discounted speculation that the project will be subsidized housing, saying while marketing has not yet begun "low-end townhomes are not planned or intended." He suggested the new homes would have a positive impact on tax bills and property values. The planning department will be contacting the school boards for their comments. "We're in the midst of the process. We're not actually anticipating that we will be reporting back immediately, but we felt it was important to introduce the proposal to the public in order to hear what their concerns were," said Planning Director Bruce MacLean, "so we can take them away and review them as part of the full review." MacLean agreed he could set up a meeting between planning staff, the developer and Carruthers Rd. Cooperative Homes Incorporated to discuss their specific issues. The deadline for written comments to the Planning Department about the project is Friday, Feb. 23. (Cynthia Gamble can be reached at cgamble@independentfreepress.com)