Fonthill has seen an explosion of development in recent years in response to Pelham’s growing population. However, not everyone is pleased with how the building process has been going. In letters received by PelhamToday, several readers have recently criticized the Town of Pelham for its planning decisions, and not doing more to improve the appearance of construction sites in Fonthill.
In his letter published late last month, Martin Harley described a construction site at the corner of Highway 20 and Station Street as “the town dump.” As someone with more than 50 years in the design, development and construction business, Harley wrote that he “would never leave a site like that.”
"Fonthill Yards," the site Harley was referring to, is owned by Aviva Properties. Barb Weins, the Town’s Director of Community Planning and Development, said a site plan for the project was approved in spring 2018 for 23 townhouses and a six-storey mixed use commercial and apartment building with 82 apartments.
There was an amendment to the site plan that was approved in 2022 to increase the number of residential units for the apartment building to 106. Construction on the mixed use building has not commenced to date.
Prior to construction beginning, Wiens added the property owner undertook an environmental clean-up of the site to remove contaminants caused as a result of the way the property was used previously—for some decades it was home to Fonthill Lumber. Wiens said the property owner received provincial clearance on that clean-up.
Resident Graeme Lamb said he couldn’t agree more with Harley’s comments “on the disgusting eyesore” at the intersection. He said the development is only “the tip of the iceberg.”
“East Fonthill has essentially been a construction site for the last several years and looks to remain that way for several more to come,” he said. “The challenge of driving Port Robinson between Station and Rice is starting to ease off, however the entire barren and untidy landscape all around the Meridian Centre and Fonthill Marketplace continues to boggle the mind.”
Speaking to PelhamToday, Lamb said there should be responsibility by the developers to tidy up construction sites when they are finished working on them. He also said there appears to be no urban planning completed with ongoing developments in the area, instead it is “a mish-mash of home types.”
Commenting on the appearance of the development, Mayor Marvin Junkin said he didn’t think the site on Station Street was messy.
“The last time I drove past it I saw a couple of tiny loads of bricks that could have been cleaned up but I didn’t think the rest of the site looked that bad.” he said. “They didn't have any loose garbage or paper blowing around.”
When PelhamToday contacted Aviva Properties, one of the owners, who refused to provide a name, said design revisions are underway to make it more affordable.
“It has become unaffordable to build due to Covid-19 issues,” he said. “We do not want the site to stay like that. We were thinking and wishing to go through with it but we could not build it and we could not sell cheap enough to be able to sell at a reasonable price.”
Pelham’s Chief Administrative Officer, David Cribbs, said no construction zone is attractive, however Pelham is fortunate to be served by “many developers who build highly attractive housing.”
“There are more than 1,000 units of housing approved for future construction in this community, beyond which there are ten additional applications for plans of subdivision in process, so more growth and more construction is coming.”
Urban planning, which determines where things go and how big they can be, is different from building design, Cribbs said.
“In Pelham, as in most municipalities, the government does not impose design standards on private property so the builder or the purchaser decides if something will be built of stone, brick, stucco, or have a red front door,” he said. “Most of us agree that government dictation of private taste is an overreach. By way of contrast, the Town does have design standards for such things as sidewalks, streets, street lighting and parks.”
Cribbs said the Town’s role, after development is approved, is to inspect the construction quality to ensure that the safety requirements of the Ontario Building Code are being met.
“The speed at which construction occurs is a private matter,” he said. “We would all like construction to occur as soon as possible because it is a messy and disruptive process. Unfortunately, some projects can and do take years, for a wide variety of reasons.”