Developer plans to approach the city council there with plan for a subdivision
Home owners, which once had a golf course in backyard, obviously not pleased
By Mark Schadenberg
Everything in the economy is dominated
by one truth: supply-and-demand.
Today, there is a peak demand for
residential subdivisions and municipalities must follow the
province's plan for intensification. Within city boundaries (any
city) the highest-and-best-use principal prevails.
Here is a story from nearby Cambridge
and the entire Kitchener-Waterloo geography could be included.
Today, there is a lower demand for
18-hole golf courses (the Saginaw golf destination was 2 9-hole
courses; Essex and Vista) as the number of duffers has decreased. If
there are too many courses or better layouts to play such as
Cambridge's Whistle Bear, Waterloo's Grey Silo, Kitchener –
Westmount, Kitchener – Rockway, or Kitchener – Deer Ridge then
some entire golf destinations may disappear.
In Cambridge, the two layouts called
Saginaw went bankrupt and closed last year. On the map, this area is
south of the 401 and east of Hespeler Road (Highway 24) and north of
Shade's Mills Reservoir.
Picture (Below) of Saginaw course(s) from K-W Region Record
The buyer of that 65 acres in question,
is now approaching Cambridge city council with a plan (official plan,
a formal planning application and corresponding zoning changes) to
build houses and one apartment building – as many as 459 total
living spaces.
Keep in mind, with an approved zoning
change and closely following the guidelines of the Provincial Policy
Statement on residential uses, it could have been possible to build
several high-rise condominiums at this location. In the meantime, the
proposal present to the elected Cambridge assembly is to consider a
subdivision with 459 residences and as many as 200 new homes will
back on to existing homes, which obviously previously backed on to
the golf course.
The developer's plan, according to a
story I read online from the K-W Region Record newspaper, does also
include 1 100-unit apartment building and a few townhouses as well.
Should those green-space homeowners
have at least a trail system buffer between their property and the
new homes? I'm just tossing out the question as a suggestion as the
value of a house backing on to a golf course would have in the past
been a premium or significant enhancement to market value.
The only chuckle I had in reading the
story is one city council member suggested there would be additional
traffic in the area, but I would say that a busy golf course has the
same amount of traffic as a residential area except for the
off-season months.
Of note, according to a Cambridge Times
newspaper clipping, the owners of the Saginaw course had compiled a
plan back in 2010 to convert some of the property to other recreation
uses along with a residential component. Their belief then was that
Saginaw's only destination was for golf, so they thought about
diversifying (Golf academy, driving range, batting cages, tennis
courts, etc) to some degree to other recreational ideas.
Since news about a subdivision for all
65 acres came to light, a few residents started a petition, which
certainly makes sense as they attempt to maintain their property
value.
Again, I think the only solution would
be a trail around the previous golf course's perimeter.
LINKS:
Golf Course is 'Bankrupt' story in
2014:
Mark
Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior
Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
Brokerage
757
Dundas St, Woodstock
(519)
537-1553, cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
Facebook:
Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
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