A request has been submitted for the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake to rezone a 3.36-acre plot of forest land on William Street, east of Palatine Place in Old Town.

The application is for for residential use with site-specific provisions for lot frontage and depth, to allow for the development of up to six single detached houses. The site is currently zoned for low-density residential use in the town's Official Plan. The site-specific zoning would allow for minimum lot frontages of 60 feet, which although slightly below the average frontage of other lots in the neighbourhood, would allow for houses comparible in size with the other homes in the area.

The applicant for the rezoning of the property, currently owned by local John Street residents Robert and Jan MacInnis, is Stephen Bedford of Landx Development. The plan is to create the six lots by severing them in stages.

in an impact analysis written by Bedford, a former NOTL planning director, he says initially the development will include the construction of a single detached home on one lot, creating a second lot for a second single detached home.

In the future, his report says, a maximum of four more additional lots could be severed along the William Street frontage. 

The property was once a tree plantation, said Bedford in his report, and “a scattering of trees” remains.

The site has been the subject of a detailed environmental impact study and the One Mile Creek and adjacent wetland will be protected, the report said.

Although it's now zoned for low residential density, the proposal meets provincial policies on intensification in urban areas, and the town's Official Plan infilling policies, he said.

A public meeting for the rezoning application will be held on Aug. 13 at the town council chamber at 6:30 p.m.