As published in The Erin Advocate
Construction of 24 new homes in Ballinafad, originally approved in 2006, is expected to begin this fall.
Erin Town Council voted on September 9 to enter a development agreement with Homes of Distinction for Silvercreek Meadows, located east of Trafalgar Road, and north of the existing homes on 32 Sideroad.
Two new cul-de-sac roads will be built off Trafalgar, named for local soldiers. Turner Crescent will honour William Turner, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2006 and Perryman Court will honour Allan Perryman, a native of Ballinafad who died in World War Two.
More than 16 hectares of wetlands, stormwater lands and buffer zones will be dedicated to the Town of Erin and left in a natural state. An intermittently-flowing tributary of Snow’s Creek runs through the area.
There is no formal parkland, but the developer has paid cash-in-lieu of parkland, contributing toward larger facilities such as soccer fields within the Town of Erin that will benefit the future residents.
“A trail system is provided through the stormwater management area, however Credit Valley Conservation did not support a full trail system through the eastern part of the conservation lands,” said Planner Sally Stull. She expects the project to proceed in three phases.
Technically, it is called a “vacant lot condominium”, originally planned to have narrow, private roads. It was decided the project should have full-width municipal roads, since the Town was concerned it could eventually be responsible for road maintenance. There is one small commonly-owned piece of land, but overall it will be like a regular subdivision.
The original approval, zoning amendment and official plan amendment were part of applications under the Planning Act, with notification, a public meeting and a Town Council decision in 2006. The County gave approval in 2007. Credit Valley Conservation had concerns about stormwater management and basement levels, however, and it has taken several years to come to agreement on those details.
The hamlet of Ballinafad is not within the study area of the Servicing and Settlement Master Plan, and was not affected by the restriction on new subdivisions in Hillsburgh and Erin village.
