Heather Wright/The Independent

If a Camlachie man wants to develop homes on his land-locked lots, he’ll have to pay to upgrade Augusta St. himself.

That from Plympton-Wyoming council after Randy Dayman approached the town to build a culvert bridge and upgrade Augusta St.

Dayman, in a letter to council, says he owns four lots on the street. In 1995, during a sewage main installation, a bridge was removed crossing the McFarlane Drain on Augusta St. and not replaced. It land-locked two of the lots.

“The only way to access my property is by crossing adjacent private lands across the Water Street Bridge.” Dayman says it is in “a state of disrepair” and is concerned about using it.

Dayman added the streets were part of the Camlachie hamlet before the formation of Plympton-Wyoming and it has “a responsibility to maintain Augusta St. in the same condition as the town acquired title to.”

He added the Drainage Act entitles owners access to property.

In a report to council, Town CAO Adam Sobanski, says the municipality has looked at the development lands in the area and knew some would not be developed without some infrastructure work. The town told all the developers in the area, including Dayman that they would have to provide a flood plain study to the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority, improve the drainage – including roads, culverts, roadside drainage and storm water management – would have to be built according to the Drainage Act and they would either have to negotiate a development agreement to install other services or send a petition to improve the roads and install services.

Sobanski says the municipality has dealt with improvements like this for a number of years now.

Normally, Sobanski writes in his report, if the town assumes roads after the homes are built, the developers have to meet the municipality’s standard. And he says there are housing developments on private roads, but the owners maintain them without help or financial support from the municipality.

“There are a number of properties throughout the town in a similar situation as the lands in the northeast portion of Camlachie. If council were to support Mr. Dayman’s requests, it is likely those properties would request financial support as well,” Sobanski said.

He adds property owners can seek municipal help under the Local Improvement Act and the Drainage Act but under both pieces of legislation, the benefiting property owners would still bear a majority of the costs.”

Council turned down Dayman’s request to rebuild the Augusta St. culvert bridge.