Laneway houses to be featured in proposed Belleville subdivision

By Max Reid

BELLEVILLE – A recent development proposal going before the planning committee Monday could see the construction of Belleville’s first laneway houses in the north end of the city.

Mayor Panciuk and city councillors will be meeting to address rezoning in the area of Farnham Road and Scott Drive where 367 new residential dwellings are planned to be built. Among these new homes will be laneway houses. These are houses where the garage is built behind the home and connected to the road via a private laneway, as opposed to connected to the side of the home as is more common. 

If approved, the development would see the construction of a variety of detached homes, townhouses, and condos which the applicant, GCL Developments, says “will create a mix of price ranges within the intensified areas of development that will be suitable for a larger number of residents” in order to address the issue of affordable housing in Belleville, according to the meeting’s agenda.

Overall, the proposed development is expected to cover an area of about 21 hectares and will feature open space and playground, as well as a connection to the pre-existing Canniff Mills subdivision to the south.

The issue of zoning comes in with regards to the plans for parkland in the development. The area currently allocated for parkland borders on provincially protected wetlands, which is why the developer is seeking a rezoning decision so that the open space can be placed elsewhere in the development.