This is the first draft plan. It incorporates the following:
110 units on 110 acres.
Approximately 56 acres of green space.
A recreo-touristic extension of the commercial enterprises in the current village of Old Chelsea that would include outlets such as a wellness centre, restaurants, fitness related retail.
An open air market with parking.
The potential for a horse farm.
An organic farm/community garden.
Community ski/walking trails.
A potential connection to the Gatineau Park.
Mixed residential housing.
Potential cooperative housing.
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Sean
12 comments:
Sean,
Thanks for posting your first draft. I'm pleased to share here some initial comments before presenting them at the upcoming council meeting:
1. Water Quality/Quantity: My home is presently the only house on Chelbrook Road. The former owner alerted me to the groundwater in the area being "somewhat salty" and legally stated as such in the agreement of sale. Upon occupancy the scale of the water problem was made apparent. Two independent water testing companies assessed the water as "excessively salty and subject to e-coli contamination from the nearby farm". Moreover, the quantity of groundwater was deemed low, with slow recharge. My family of four regularly runs the well dry during 'normal' use - and we are by no means excessive consumers of water. Despite repeatedly 'shocking' the well to remove the e-coli contamination the problem returned. In the end we had to install a special household UV filter for the e-coli and a household water treatment system to deal with excessive saline levels. A total investment of around $7,500 (and counting), but without of course any change to the water quantity problem.
Anticipating my question, how can 110 units do anything but make these problems worse? Now that I have an independent baseline for water quality/quantity pre-development, what happens if (or more likely when) these problems worsen post-development? What type of compensation will the developer offer?
2. traffic: as the only resident on Chelbrook road, I can attest to high traffic volume on Old Chelsea. Many the occasion has been when I simply cannot enter Old Chelsea Road without waiting up to 5 minutes for traffic congestion to clear. Anyone can deal with 5 minutes; but what happens when there are now 110+ cars trying to do the same thing every morning, every evening? Congestion on Old Chelsea will be unbearable not just for residents on Chelbrook Road, but all adjacents residents. Your plan would well be revised to place the main access road from Hwy#5 so as to lessen the impact on Old Chelsea Road residents.
3. Comments on overall design: placement of a round-about at the key junction nearest Old Chelsea appears to take more greenspace than would a 4-way intersection. Which is better?
110 units will place an excessive load on existing water resources and traffic infrastructure. How can this number be reduced further?
How many parking spots are envisaged in the retail zone? Presumably, as a 'green' development, the developer will encourage bicycle use and adjust the design accordingly to move people out of their cars.
Respecting the retail area that backs onto my property, what landscaping features are envisaged? Ideally, large trees indigenous to the area would be planted as a visual block.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Andrew Spezowka
12 Chelbrook Road
Mr. Spezowka,
Thank you for posting your concerns. All the issues you raise are important and worthy of a great deal of consideration. To be clear, none of our plans are anywhere near cast in stone and, in fact, have only just been presented to the Municipality; so concerns such as yours will definitely need to be addressed before we proceed.
The Municipality of Chelsea insists that all developers get professional engineering assessments of precisely the questions you raise and we will definitely provide these as we receive them. If our plans need to change as a result of engineers’ findings, I promise you that we will do that without hesitation.
Parenthetically, some of the local developers are talking about bringing in a municipalized water supply. You may want to start lobbying for the connection to extend west of Hwy 5 to alleviate your family’s concerns about your own well.
Sean
When will lots start being for sale?
We are beginning the process of getting approval for our plans from the Municipality of Chelsea. Our goal is to have lots available in about a year. I have started a list of interested parties, so if you would like to be on that list, please e-mail me at sean@hendrickfarm.ca.
Sean
I appreciate the fact that the project will not create a motor vehicle throughway from Link road to Old Chelsea road and I know many residents on or near Link road share this view.
Will there be a pedestrian/cycling/skiing link and if so, could you illustrate this link on the map. Also, perhaps a pedestrian/cycling/skiing link between the end of Vincent road to the proposed project would be welcome by the residents of Vincent to access the market etc without going through Old Chelsea road.
A concern I suggest you address or discuss with residents:
The northern part (north of the Creek) is in a sector where higher density is permitted. The normal ''Chelsea density of at least 1 acre per dwelling'' is what is currently the zoning in the southern part (area south of the Creek where you propose a possible Coop concept). Ignoring the fact that a Coop concept is proposed - an interesting concept that needs further clarification - Can you tell me how you plan to have the high density allowed in the south part ?
I believe that zoning changes are required and if there is no opposition and they are accepted, similar requests to allow high density in surrounding areas, south of the creek, would certainly follow. There are two 10 acre lots that are adjacent to the Hendrick lot in the south part. These two could potentially also become high density if the zoning changes are favorably considered by council.
Will you consult residents on Bronson, Dunn, Birch and Link roads to discuss this issue in particular? Do you know if Chelsea council will take into account future plans on those two lots when considering the Hendrick farm proposal?
Merci beaucoup!
DC
Dear DC,
Thank you for taking the time to voice the concerns of residents of Link Rd. I have been aware for some time now that Link Rd. residents do not want to see an increase in vehicle traffic and so our designers and I have built this into the draft plan. I am also aware that there is an interest in having a pedestrian connection from the north end of Link to the village of Old Chelsea and so this is also included in our plan. We have indicated to the Municipality of Chelsea that our intention would be to have a gated road connection to Link that could be used in emergencies but would otherwise be open to pedestrians and cyclists only. This connection would be at the now vacant corner lot at the north end of Link Rd.
With respect to zoning changes, all of the Hendrick farm property will need to be re-zoned. That is the explicit intent of the Chelsea Master Plan. One of the side benefits of having no regular road connection to Link Rd. is that it makes the north and south sides of the creek a contiguous development. It seems to me that it would be an enormous stretch to make the argument that two large parcels that have access from Link Rd. but not Old Chelsea Rd. should have zoning changes as well simply because they are close to a different zone. Access is, it seems to me, the issue.
With respect to Coop housing, it is our clear understanding that there is a demand for seniors housing, less expensive housing for young people, and an interest in preserving as much green space as possible. All of these interests can be served through cooperative housing. There also needs to be a business case for building a road across the creek. There will need to be a number of units on the south side of the creek to justify the extremely expensive exercise of not accessing that land from Link Rd. So there’s a trade-off: Fewer units if the south side is accessed from Link Rd. More if the land is accessed from the north side of the creek.
I am very happy to meet with you and your neighbours to discuss these plans in more detail. Please feel free to e-mail me or call me at 613-298-8707 to set up a meeting.
Thanks again for your input.
Sean
I live at 54 Link. It will be impossible for the planning committee to allow the devlopment of the the land North of Link Rd without taking into consideration that Mr. Meilleur will opt for high Density housing as well. 827-2653
Thank you for your comment. I am not in a position to speculate on the intentions of neighbouring landowners nor on the Planning Committee's wishes. I do know, though, that neither I nor the Planning Committee are proposing 'high density housing' as you suggest.
Sean
Very goo ideas.
Attractive project.
When will lots be available for sale? When will the construction of houses start?
Hi. Here's what I'd like to see for houseing:
-Wind mills generating electricity.
-Solar panels on all the roofs. Maybe in the siding too. There's now paint (maybe still in development) that acts as a solar collector.
-Create methane from sewage, and use to run water heaters and/or cook stoves. Water heaters would be tankless (on demand).
-Geo-thermal heat.
-Set up Co-op to manage common infrastructure of above.
-Sell excess power back to grid when not being used.
-Buy power from grid when needed.
-Streets would be oriented east/west.
-Houses would use passive solar gain - lots of windows facing south. Two models of houses - one with lots of window on the back (for houses on the south side of a street), and one with lots of windows on the front (for houses on the north side of a street).
-Roofs slant one way, with high end at the north side, so that solar collection will work better.
-Have skylights in the north rooms, so you don't need lights during the day. Skylights would have mirrored shafts, so that all the light gets down into the rooms.
-Interior doors with transom windows that work, so that opening windows will make a breeze in the house that evacuates the hot air, wich is all near the ceiling.
-Each house would have two poplars and two maples on the south side of the house. Deciduous trees will shade the house in the summer, but not in winter. The poplars will grow quickly (in a couple of years), and the maples will grow more slowly, and replace the poplars when they die.
-South windows with awnings that block the summer sun, but not the winter sun.
Hello,
I have looked over your proposed subdivison of the Hendrick Farm. I am a Chelsea resident and while I appreciate your effort to dialogue with the community, I doubt you'll be willing to take my advice. That is, take the existing Hendrick Farm and, with cooperation from the municipality, divide it into a number of small organic farms with a central market to sell to the community.
This has been proposed to you before I believe. I imagine that you will come up significant resistance to the community to push your subdivison ahead as it will be following the Chelsea Creek subdivison.
Do you have any plans to build LEED certified houses? greywater recycling? geothermal heat? passive/active solar? Sir, I can guarantee that if you insist on building your subdivision with these features you will have much less resistance from the public.
Just about the worst thing you could introduce to our community is a swirl of 'ticky tacky' suburban homes, vast swathes of parking lots and retail stores and eatery's that could be found in Missisaugua, Orleans, or any other suburb you can think of.
I apologize for the relatively negative tone of this post, but your track record of prior developments do not boost the confidence that you can get it right here.
Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for taking the time to write. I appreciate that you made the effort to communicate your ideas in spite of your stated cynicism about the consultation process.
I regret that you were unable to attend yesterday’s corn roast and consultation that we held on the farm. Had you have been there you would have heard from a leading organic farmer’s organization and a group whose sole focus is on preserving green space in the region. Both were quick to extol the virtues of this project. They and I are in absolute agreement with you that we must diligently avoid anything that smacks of the suburbs.
In your note you suggest that we, “take the existing Hendrick Farm and, with cooperation from the municipality, divide it into a number of small organic farms with a central market to sell to the community.” That is precisely what we plan. We are also, as you suggest, actively pursuing energy conservation options for the development.
Again, thank you for posting your views. I hope that you can be encouraged to continue joining in in this discussion.
All the best,
Sean
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