PEC Community Partners’ first major housing development at Base31, Village A, is offering more green space and a redesigned road network in response to community feedback. 

At the center of the new development is a five-acre (2.1 hectare) park that now gives directly on to a 2.2 acre (.9 ha) stormwater pond, which will be vegetated and buffered to look like a natural pond. The combined green space will create an “open vista to County Rd 22,” Mr. Pettigrew noted. The village is connected via laneways to Macaulay Heights on one side and to the Revitalization District on the other. 

Village A will sit on 74 acres previously zoned Industrial, and included in the recently approved Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

About 458 new homes, including 257 single detached houses, 118 laneway townhouses, 53 bungalow townhouses, and stacked townhouse units, are mapped onto the new draft plan, which includes two additional blocks designated for medium density housing. The total number of units is not yet determined.

Plans for a road network include Street A, to connect Kingsley Road to Church Street. That is the “first of many collector roads that will be proposed as part of the overall development,” said Mike Pettigrew, Planner with Biglieri Group. 

At the center of the new development is a five-acre (2.1 hectare) park
that now gives directly on to a 2.2 acre (.9 ha) stormwater pond,
which will be vegetated and buffered to look like a natural pond.
The combined green space will create an “open vista to County Rd 22.” 

A well attended Open House was held at Base31 in November 2024, where the first draft plan of the subdivision was presented.

“At the open house we heard a lot of comments and made a number of changes. One of the main changes was to take the road pattern and make it more grid-like,” Mr. Pettigrew noted.

Plans now include two small parkettes.

The Base31 Area Concept Plan, a document outlining the vision for the next 30 years of development, includes green pathways to connect  residential “villages” to the revitalization district at the centre. 

Mr. Pettigrew explained that the intention of the connective “green fingers,” is to enable movement through the community without reliance on cars. Plans for Village A show it buffered with green space to the east.

Councillor Roy Pennell inquired about the developer’s plans to proceed in light of the low water and wastewater treatment capacity in Picton.

“The exact details of the servicing are being worked on with the County right now,” said Mr. Pettigrew. “There isn’t a single solution that is available right now to provide you with that answer, but it is something that the County is aware of and our clients and that’s an ongoing discussion.”

“Before any draft is approved, one of the conditions will be to secure that servicing.”

A Master Servicing Plan to map future capacity needs is underway, along with a Development Charges Study to determine the revenue needed to support new water and roads infrastructure. 

Councillor David Harrison asked about the timeline for development and when water servicing would need to be available. 

“Right now, our clients are contemplating two phases, but really the build-out will be market-driven,” said Mr. Pettigrew.

“We are prepared and ready to act if the market is there to build as quickly as we can, obviously understanding the concerns of the servicing capacity,” added Chris Marchese of PEC Community Partners. 

Councillor Harrison followed up for clarification. 

“The object of my questions is basically to get an idea of what your timing is going to try to be so that financially we’re not sitting in a position where we do this infrastructure work with no development fees coming in, and basically we’re bridging the whole thing, “ he said. “We’ve really got to be in sync on this.”

“We’re happy to work together in some sort of funding agreement where the DC (development charges) recoveries are able to pay for the services, so the burden isn’t fully on the municipality,” said Mr. Marchese.