Members of the Town of Lincoln’s committee of the whole have OK’d an official plan amendment and bylaw changes to allow for a 160-unit development on 4.1 hectares of vacant land behind the Calvary Gospel Church on Hixon Street.
Lincoln councillors green light modified Beamsville housing plan
Members of the Town of Lincoln’s committee of the whole have OK’d an official plan amendment and bylaw changes to allow for a 160-unit development on 4.1 hectares (10 acres) of vacant land behind the Calvary Gospel Church on Hixon Street
Members of the Town of Lincoln’s committee of the whole have OK’d an official plan amendment and bylaw changes to allow for a 160-unit development on 4.1 hectares of vacant land behind the Calvary Gospel Church on Hixon Street.
Lincoln town councillors have given their nod of approval to a 160-unit housing project for Beamsville.
Members of the town’s committee of the whole have OK’d an official plan amendment and bylaw changes to allow for the Vintage Heights development, located on 4.1 hectares (10 acres) of vacant land behind Calvary Gospel Church on Hixon Street.
The development includes a mix of single and semi-detached dwellings, townhouses and apartment units.
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“It’s been a long road,” said Daniel Romanko, managing partner and urban designer with Better Neighbourhoods, the agent for Pine Glen Beamsville, which — along with Calvary Gospel Church — owns the property. “I think we’ve been at this five years now.”
After listening to presentations and grilling the agent and town planning staff for about 70 minutes, councillors voted 9-0 to approve the plan.
“I would say probably in my 20-plus years of planning experience that Lincoln is very thorough in their review of development applications,” said Romanko, who noted construction could begin in the spring of 2025.
The committee passed a motion that will see a groundwater review take place as part of the site plan process and pre-construction analysis done to ensure there is no damage to surrounding properties because of the construction work.
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Romanko said the review will be done by a third party.
“They go in the basements (of neighbouring homes) and take pictures and see if there’s any cracks and things of that nature,” he said.
The approved development is more modest than what was originally proposed by Better Neighbourhoods.
Following the statutory public meeting last December, during which neighbours raised issues about density, parking, traffic and drainage, the developer came back with some changes.
The original plan for 202 units was reduced to 160, and the proposed six-storey apartment building has been reduced to four storeys, with 69 parking spaces, six visitor parking spaces and a neighbourhood parkette.
Seven of the apartments will be affordable housing.
“It was simply a concession that was made to appease neighbours,” Romanko said.
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Calvary Gospel Church will retain its building and 1.4 hectares (three acres) of property.
The church is in the process of building an addition and adding more parking spaces on the east side of the site.
The proposal, which still requires ratification by council, now moves on to the site plan and detailed design process stage.
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