Wojciech Luba has come to savour the slower pace of life in Gosport since he and his wife Barbara moved into the sleepy Brighton enclave a year ago.
Gosport is a small lakefront community built on a peninsula accessible only by Baldwin Street that leads to the Lake Ontario shores where a smattering of homes and small businesses exist. Gosport residents are fiercely proud of their neighbourhood and are protective of it. They fought the Municipality of Brighton successfully last summer to keep four pickleball courts from being built at Hilda Montgomery Park that would have displaced a ball diamond used as green space for neighbourhood children.
Although he’s a recent transplant to Gosport, Luba is also among those who’s proud of the neighbourhood and the people who live there.
“This is a wonderful community. It has people that are simple, but they are very honest and very open and they’re hard-working people. They are straight shooters,” said Luba in characterizing his Gosport neighbours.
Now, Luba has been delegated to serve as de-facto point person for the neighbourhood to keep a sprawling condominium development proposed on the waterfront out of Gosport. He believes most Gosport residents are solidly in opposition to the condo proposal.
“This proposed development is way too big for the Gosport area, it is placed completely inappropriately. This is not only my opinion. Gosport is not a big area and there is a huge majority of people thinking the same and even more radically than me,” said Luba.
According to documents filed with the municipality, the condo development would be built on just less than seven acres of land at the end of Elgin Street, north of Price Street and west of the Presqu’Ile Yacht Club. The development calls for seven three-storey quadruplex buildings and one two-storey building for a total of 32 units. The development would be accessed by a private road connected to Elgin Street.
Luba said he’s attended two public meetings on the condominium project, one held virtually via Zoom in October and another at the King Edward Park Community Centre late last month that was at near capacity with COVID-19 protocols in place. He believes those attending November’s meeting were against the development.
Brighton Mayor Brian Ostrander said he has heard rumblings of discontent regarding the development. That’s why, he said, the consultation process is in place — to give all citizens a chance to say their piece and be heard.
“It’s exactly what we wanted and exactly why we’ve gone down the road. We passed a bylaw requiring extra consultation. We want to engage the public on this. We know how much Brighton is growing and we share their concerns. We want to make sure the public is engaged as much and as often as possible,” said Mayor Ostrander.
“Certainly we haven’t heard much support, I can tell you that. We are hearing from local residents and from residents outside of Gosport as well. They have some concerns about the lands that are considered to be developed.”
Luba said there are several concerns regarding the proposed development related to increased traffic and the area’s ability to handle more sewage. His biggest concern, however, is the fact some of the land is zoned as Environmentally Protected.
“This is the only parcel of land in Gosport that is undeveloped. It is sanctuary to various animals, for turtles, for foxes, for snakes, for opossums, for frogs, a number of wetland animals use that stretch of land. It is really wild and undeveloped. It would be shame to have it developed from an environmental point of view,” said Luba.
Moreover, Luba said the land is on a flood plain and acts as a sponge, primarily during the spring melt, that absorbs excess water in the area.
Mayor Ostrander says the no matter the project, someone or something is displaced by development. In this case, however, displacing at-risk wildlife would make it a much tougher case to have the zoning changed.
“Every time we put houses on a piece of land we displace somebody or something from where they used to roam. So, we’re aware of that. And, what we have to do is make sure and what the developer has to do is to make sure that if they’re displacing any creatures that those creatures aren’t put at risk, because then it becomes complicated for them to do so. If we’re just talking about species that aren’t at risk then it is much easier to develop on those lands,” said Mayor Ostrander.
Luba said he and others in Gosport are wary of the development company itself. The developer is JRB Williams Enterprises Inc., which is an acronym for (the late) John, Ryan and Bradley Williams, who also own the Belleville-based Williams Hotel Group. Ryan Williams is the newly elected Conservative MP for the Bay of Quinte riding.
Luba said there is a potential for a conflict of interest in this case as the Lower Trent Conservation Authority — headquartered in Quinte West, which is part of Williams’s riding — would have to sign off on the re-zoning of the part of the property currently zoned as Environmentally Protected.
“I’m not saying there is an undue process or any pressure or anything. I have no proof whatsoever. But this is a conflict of interest,” said Luba.
Mayor Ostrander is also aware of Ryan Williams’ involvement in the proposed condo project.
“I can tell you no one from their office has contacted me at this stage, there is no influence peddling, if you will, being attempted. I don’t really expect there to be, we all understand our roles in government — Ryan has his job to do for the constituency he has and I have my job to do for my constituency,” said Ostrander.
From the standpoint of the municipality, no decision on the condo development will be made for the foreseeable future, said Mayor Ostrander. As yet, there has been no formal application sent to the municipality.
“The developer is in that process of getting their ducks in a row to file a completed application at which point staff will bring it forward, we will have a statutory public meeting and we will hear all those concerns from the public. And, we hope we do hear from everyone. People have to understand if council were to say yes to this in order for them to appeal a decision of council they need to make sure their information is brought forward at a public meeting,” said Mayor Ostrander.
“I don’t know the timeline. We’re months out from making a decision. I don’t think it’s going to happen any time soon. I would expect to see us in a statutory public meeting some time in 2022, but I don’t know when the final staff report will come after that meeting. Because after that statutory meeting, staff then need to provide us with their recommendation.”
Although it could be months before a decision is made on the condo proposal, Luba is determined to fight it every step of the way to preserve his beloved Gosport neighbourhood.
“It’s mind boggling to put such a big development in this place,” he said.
