City council rejected a secret compromise plan to develop the Chedoke brow lands Tuesday, but left the door open for a last-minute settlement to avoid an Ontario Municipal Board battle.
Council turned down an alternative building plan from Deanlee Management in a closed-door meeting Tuesday, but also voted to make a private counterproposal.
The Mississauga-based developer first pitched 750 units of condominiums and townhouses along Scenic Drive on the west Mountain, with the city suggesting 450 units as a maximum. The details of Deanlee’s latest pitch and the city’s counter-offer will stay secret for now, said Councillor Terry Whitehead.
“But if the city’s offer is not accepted, I can say we’re in for the fight,” Whitehead said after Tuesday’s meeting, held the day before a scheduled OMB hearing. “The city has a strong planning foundation for its argument.”
Opponents of the development are depending on city participation in Wednesday’s hearing, said Andrew Knowles, whose grandmother lives on Scenic.
“We need the city to ensure we come out of this process with a development that is rational and reasonable,” Knowles said.
Residents hoping to save the Mountain green space will be represented at the OMB hearing, Knowles said, “but we don’t have the kind of expertise and experience that city staff have in negotiating this process … We want to know council is behind us.”
A representative of Deanlee Management declined to comment Tuesday. But an email from the developer’s lawyer, Paul DeMelo, acknowledges council’s decision and suggests Deanlee will ask for the OMB hearing to be rescheduled for late October or November to allow for “at least seven days of hearing time.”
The hearing was also put off twice during the summer.
Whitehead said there is still time for the company to consider the city’s behind-the-scenes offer, which he considers “better” than the city’s previous call for a maximum 450 units.
Deanlee’s latest public compromise offer was 529 units.
The OMB hearing begins at 10:30 a.m. at the McMaster Learning Centre at 50 Main St. E.
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