Journal Staff
Ontario Municipal Board has given a green light to a London developer’s plan for a new subdivision and and stores on Modeland Road.
Sifton Properties Limited intends to build 109 residential units, including 72 single-family homes, 37 medium density units and a commercial block on the west side of Modeland, north of Michigan Avenue.
Following a hearing in January, the OMB sided with Sarnia, which had argued Sifton should be responsible for the cost of enclosing roadside ditches on Michigan and Modeland and installing a sidewalk and a multi-purpose trail on the enclosed ditches.
Sarnia, Lambton County and the developer had already reached agreement on a host of other contentious issues in recent months, Alan Shaw, the city’s planning director, said in a report to council.
The eight days of hearings scheduled were cut to two.
One contentious issue — potential flooding —was resolved when an engineering consultant hired by the city concluded that controls proposed by Sifton could adequately manage stormwater on its site.
Lambton was involved because Michigan and Modeland are county roads.
It was the second time the project had gone to the OMB.
Sifton’s initial proposal called for a larger commercial plaza at the corner, more townhouses and a 160-unit retirement or nursing home on the 26-acre parcel of land.
City council, backed by stiff public opposition, rejected the proposal.
The OMB approved a revised Official Plan in 2016 that reduced the commercial and residential density and nixed the nursing home.
With final approvals from the city, Sifton could break ground later this year.