It’s a property that’s sat with planning approvals in place for at least 30 years and now Huntsville planning staff are trying to do their best to negotiate enhancements to the development with the applicants.
At their February 10 meeting, Huntsville’s planning committee approved an amended site plan for a 53-unit multi-residential development consisting of four three-storey buildings at 295 Hwy. 60 with frontage on Fairy Lake.
The property has an area of about two hectares, 158 metres of frontage on Fairy Lake and 155 metres of frontage on Hwy. 60, according to a planning report. The property slopes down to the water and contains remnants of mature vegetation around the perimeter and shoreline of the property. A site plan for the property was approved in 1988 but the development was not completed. Today, the property contains unfinished building foundations and servicing infrastructure.
Stephen Meyers with Calibrex, the developer who has partnered with Dunn Capital Corporation on the Crescent Bay development, told committee that his company has been involved in the project since the 1980s, when the site plan was originally approved and services installed.
“There was a building permit drawn and erected in the late ’80s, early ’90s and the builder who was originally on the project skipped town and left the site in a state of disrepair and Dunn Capital ended up having to take sole possession of the project and then carried it for a few decades now,” Meyers explained.
He said the project will mostly remain as envisioned in the ’80s but will be brought up to today’s standards and meet applicable codes as well as market expectations. “We’re very proud of the work that we’ve done and we commit to that moving forward as well. Our hope is to sort of redeem what’s been a messy legacy, there on the site,” he told committee.
Amendments to the original site plan include moving away from the original plan to infill the lake and adding another four units to the development from 49 to 53 units. Staff also noted that they’ve been negotiating with the applicant to ensure some of the parking garages are better situated, and that better shoreline, parking, and road buffers exist from the original approved plan.
“It is a weird situation and we’re getting everything we can but there is the existing property detail schedule in place. There is also an existing site plan agreement in place so I think the principle is we’re just trying to make the situation better as much as we can, but it takes a bit of cooperation on both sides,” said Huntsville manager of planning Richard Clark.
Nearby property owners expressed concerns about their view being impacted and that a deeded right-of-way on the property remains. Meyers said discussions would ensue with all of the surrounding property owners who have easements on the property. He also said discussions with the neighbours concerned about the view and building locations would be held, pending approval of the amended site plan.
Entrance to the development will take place off Hwy. 60, to be approved by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. On Calibrex’s website, the development is described as two- and three-bedroom condominiums starting in the high $400,000s, ranging from 1,054 to 1,825 square feet.
Planning committee approved the amended site plan and asked that the residents who attended the online meeting be kept in the loop.
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Heather Panton says
And what about the small public beach area? will that be accessible still?
Lynn Bennett says
Happy that the mess is being cleaned up. And, I trust the town will ensure the building design is more fitting our Muskoka landscape than the recent institutional-looking building that has been erected recently on Penn Lake.
brian tapley says
And we all laughed in the late 1960’s as we rode that yellow bus to the High School each day and watched the “new” Highway 60 being built across the SWAMP that pretty much covered the entire area from Farmer’s Daughter out to just before the fancy Vet building.
Who would have guessed that you could fill this tangled mess in and make it what it is today.
Tick another wetland area off the list for a layer of pavement, this one is nearly “done” now.
Gayle Allison Singer says
Our family has been swimming at that little public beach since at least the 1930’s. What is happening to the public access.
Good to know that the area may get cleaned up which is positive.