Heather Wright/The Independent
A major subdivision planned for Petrolia has hit a bump in the road.
MI 637 is planning a 147-lot subdivision on the 64 acres it owns adjacent to existing Giampietri subdivision Discovery Line and Stanley Street. The proposal was supposed to be discussed at a public meeting Monday however that meeting has now been cancelled.
The new development is proposed to have six streets with entrances off Discovery Line, Stanley Street, and Ernest Street. Developers were to speak to the details of the plan Monday.
However, a notice from Lambton County’s building department says the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority was not ready to sign off on the plan.
“The applicant’s technical study was deemed incomplete by the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority,” the notice says.
“The proposal, as presented, for the closure of portions of the Buttermilk Creek drain and realignment could not be supported by the SCRCA.
“There is insufficient time for the applicant to remedy the issues prior to the public meeting date.
Given theses issues, the public meeting must be cancelled until the drainage matters are addressed.”
County officials gave no indication when that might be.
While the details of the development have not been know, the subdivision has been in the news.
MI 637 drew the ire of neighbours when they began pulling down trees in the area in May 2021.
And the town purchased the land for a right-of-way to the area from Giampietri Construction in July 2020 for $200,000.
When the Woodland subdivision was built, easements to build roadways into the Discovery Line area were not negotiated by the town. Council picked up the cost of the right-of-way in 2020, saying the new developer in the area would eventually bring in the revenue to cover the cost of repairing the mistake.
Council is made up of a group of out of touch elderly people that will do everything in their power to kill an already dying community. There has been zero growth in population and economic activity in Petrolia for years and council will continue to make sure that the trend doesn’t reverse anytime soon. The town has become a laughing stock in the region. There is no incentive for young families to move into an area that at one point had great promise. The downtown core is void of any type of activity and businesses seem to be leaving at an increased pace.