Hawkesbury town council has approved a series of Zoning Bylaw Amendments (ZBA), to permit a new 127-dwelling residential development near the intersection of Spence Avenue and Cameron Street.

The changes were made official at the April 11 council meeting.

 The former Residential R1 and R2 zoning on 4.87 (12 acres) of land is now a combination of R1 with exception (R1X), R3X, and R4X zoning. The zoning amendments allow for 24 semi-detached homes, seven blocks containing a total of 30 townhouses, two blocks containing a total of 44 apartments, and five single-detached homes to be constructed on the site. All buildings constructed on the land are limited to four stories or 11 metres in height. The name of the new residential area is Gateway to Mont-Roc.

The zoning amendments were previously defeated by Hawkesbury council on May 30, 2022, and faced significant opposition from nearby residents. However, the developer, GD Holdings Limited, submitted a new application for the Zoning Bylaw Amendment (ZBA) on December 20, 2022. A public meeting took place on March 27, with nearly 60 residents in attendance. Around 45 people attended the April 11 council meeting.

Consulting Planner Jacob Bolduc, of Fotenn Planning and Design, presented a complete report on the proposed development and confirmed that it is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement on land use planning and conforms to the United Counties of Prescott and Russell (UCPR) Official Plan on land use planning.

Unanimous, but reluctantly

Even though council ended up voting unanimously in favour of adopting the ZBA, opinions on the proposal were not unanimously positive. Councillor Antonios Tsourounakis said he is greatly in favour of development but wants more housing that fits the image of the current Mont-Roc neighbourhood

“Mont-Roc was always the aspirational neighbourhood,” Tsouronakis said, describing it as an area people planned to move to after first living in apartments or semi-detached homes. He would like to see more of that “aspirational” housing built in Hawkesbury.  

Tsourounakis said Mont-Roc residents knew housing would be built on the land one day, but not apartments and townhouses. He said most streets in the area are cul-de-sacs and questions a proposed extension of Stevens Street as part of the new development.

Councillor Yves Paquette said it was a difficult decision.  

“I don’t like this plan,” said Councillor Jeanne Charlebois. Her preference is to have more single family dwellings built on the land.

Councillor Julie Séguin also expressed her doubts about the plan and said she received many phone calls and emails in opposition to the proposal.

Tsourounakis questioned why the Plan of Subdivision was first approved by the UCPR.  

Bolduc explained how as a regional government, the UCPR is the approval authority for Plans of Subdivision and lot creation. Zoning is the town’s responsibility.

Tsourounakis likened developers getting subdivisions approved by the UCPR before the town approves zoning as a “Mommy and Daddy,” situation.

“If you don’t like Mommy, go to Daddy,” he said.

“It’s very common for zoning to happen after draft plan has been figured out,” Bolduc replied.

“A draft plan is quite a complex series of documents,” Mayor Robert Lefebvre said. He explained that is why developers often seek plan of subdivision approval before zoning approvals.  

Séguin referred to the social milieu of the local community.

“I understand that Mont-Roc is the high end of Hawkesbury, but the line is very, very fine,” she said.

Charlebois said she disagrees with “one rule, one law for all,” when it comes to provincial planning policies and legislation.

Council first voted unanimously to approve the recommendation in Bolduc’s report to proceed with the ZBA. An angry resident shouted from the audience about how they pay their taxes and will remember council’s decision at the next election.

Further comments

After the meeting, Tsourounakis said voting against the zoning changes would have led to other challenges, including a potential appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), which the town would likely lose.

“I attempted to get my points forward. It’s not an easy decision,” he said.

Lefebvre said the decision was challenging, given that current provincial policies are encouraging higher-density, multi-unit housing. He said the reality of housing has changed for many people. The possibility of owning a single-family house is less attainable and more people need multi-unit homes.

He said it could be a challenging for residents to appeal council’s decision to the OLT because the law only allows legally incorporated organizations, and not individuals, to launch appeals.