Heather Wright/The Independent

Brooke-Alvinston Councillor Frank Nemcek calls plans for a 244 unit subdivision in Alvinston a “once in a lifetime opportunity.”

But he, and the rest of council, recognize traffic coming from the proposed development shouldn’t just be streamed onto Millpond Road and Francis Street; it should, they said, be going onto Nauvoo Road.

About 40 people packed the small Brooke-Alvinston council chamber June 19 to hear Calvin Schoulten’s plan for the 30-acres of land which fronts on Nauvoo and Millpond Roads.

The plans call for 19 single-family homes on standard sized lots, another 90 on much smaller lots, 56 units in townhouses which front onto the street and 79 units in cluster townhouses.

The larger lots would back onto existing houses on Broadway Street, the smaller single family home lots would be along Nauvoo Road. The street townhouses would be on the north side of the property and the cluster townhomes are currently slated for the south end.

The subdivision, which will increase the number of homes in the municipality by almost 24 per cent, has two access roads, one Millpond, one at Francis Street. Melissa Tait was one of the concerned neighbours.

“This creates a significant safety risk for residents…in the event of a fire or other emergency, limited access could delay emergency response and evacuation of these homes,” she said, adding because the surrounding streets don’t have sidewalks, pedestrians would be at risk if all the subdivision’s vehicles exited on local streets. 

Tait’s concerns were reiterated by almost every speaker. All said they felt the subdivision should have an access onto Nauvoo.

Currently, Lambton County does not approve accesses for subdivisions on county roads. 

“I know from previous experiences with Lambton County roads that they are overly protective of their roads,” wrote Roy Searson in a letter to council. “It would make more sense to have an entrance on Nauvoo with either stop lights or a roundabout.”

Scholton told the group he wanted an access onto Nauvoo, but it was not possible.

Council plans to approach county officials with the issue.

Mayor Dave Ferguson also vowed to deal with concerns of parkland. The developer opted to pay into a fund instead of providing land for a park in the area.

“That’s a lot of houses and residents in a very small space with no greenspace,” said Dave and Rosanna Searson.

Council did approve the zoning which allows Scholten to build homes on smaller lots with smaller yards. 

The county will now look at the concerns raised by residents while working out a subdivision agreement with the developer.

Nemcek said he recognized neighbours were concerned, but urged them to see the development for what it is; “It’s a win-win. We gotta get it done right.”