Work on the St. James Waterdown church townhouse development has been at a standstill for over two months.
In early May, a spokesperson from Kindred Works, the company behind the 44-unit townhouse development, said the project was waiting to cross some T’s and dot some I’s before construction began.
When Kindred Works had its final public meeting about the project in early May, development and planning director Carly Forrester said the project was waiting for one last detail about a storm capture issue before building, which she estimated would take a few weeks to solve.
But months later, crews are still waiting for the go ahead.
Binu Korah, director of development engineering for the city, said the project still needs an approval on a Letter of Credit, a financial guarantee to the city that the project will be fully funded, before work begins. Korah also said the project needs an "external works agreement" and that the city's building division is actively reviewing the project's building permit application.
Korah said the city is waiting to approve the site plan for the townhouse development.
Kindred Works spokesperson Anna Woodhouse said, "There are no delays. As we said, construction is beginning – fencing is up and materials are there. The project timeline has not changed and occupancy is expected in early 2026."
While the city says there are a few stopping blocks in the way of the project going ahead, Woodhouse said the project has its building permits and work is going to begin immediately.
Neighbours cite sewer infrastructure, parking concerns
Residents living around the development at 306 Parkside Drive have been vocal about not wanting construction to go forward.
At the last public meeting, dozens gathered in St. James United Church to voice their anger at the project. Big sticking points with neighbours included concerns about street parking, increased traffic on Parkside Drive and a fear that the renters moving in when the project is complete would devalue their homes.
Murray Sylvester, who has lived on Parkside Drive across from the church for 24 years, is worried the development will strain the sewer infrastructure. The development would tap into the sewer system on nearby Kelly Street, which Forrester mentioned was one of the last issues to solve before approval back in early May.
Sylvester says he became aware of a Kelly Street resident who was unable to add a granny flat on their property because of a lack of sewer infrastructure, "yet 44 homes are being built."
Sylvester says, in his opinion, the St. James project was rushed and pushed ahead without proper studies on the infrastructure strain being completed.
He suggested his Kelly Street neighbour's issue with the city's sewage approval is what is holding the project up, but the city did not provide a comment on whether that is true.
But Sylvester said his biggest concern is with the traffic on Parkside Drive. He said the entrance and exit for the development will both go out onto Parkside, which he said already has heavy traffic. And with several major roadwork projects beginning in the next year, Parkside will soon be one of the only crosstown roads available for commuters to avoid construction.
"Most homes have two cars and with this new build, they have designated one spot per household, and all the other vehicles will end up being parked on Parkside Drive or Kelly Street," he said.
Kindred Works previously told FlamboroughToday the development would have 94 parking spaces, one for each resident and 50 for the church. At May's public meeting, Forrester suggested residents could park in the church spots when it was not holding events.
"It makes it very difficult for us to get out of our driveway. We can't see down the street until we are pulled right out onto the road," he said.
