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Many people living around The Quail golf course let city hall know they are not happy about a development taking away part of the golf course—and their view.
Despite their displeasure, council voted 5-4 this week to allow the development on the property, which includes the 18th hole, to go ahead.
Councillors Stack, Sieben, Singh and Hodge voted with the residents and against the development.
“I think there’s an expectation when people buy there that you’re not expecting the golf course for which you’re buying upon to be redeveloped and changed. That was the rationale for me for sure,” Sieben said.
“I think councillor Stack actually put it really well, that you put yourselves in the shoes of a property owner in one of those developments, how would you feel. Even if you did your due diligence, I think this is beyond the realm of what you’d expect.”
The developer plans a 23-unit townhouse development with a mix of duplex, triplex, 4-plex and 6-plex type buildings.
It’s part of what was originally developed under the Quail Ridge Area Structure Plan. According to the city, up to 110 units could still be built elsewhere.
Sieben believes they should have looked elsewhere to help fill that number.
He says he feels for the residents, some of whom did their due diligence in checking the potential zoning of the area before purchasing.
“Look at this corner property that’s on an angle, people who even did do their due diligence wouldn’t expect it would be redeveloped because everything around it is ALR, and it’s part of the 18th hole, the signature hole of the course. So I’m sympathetic to their concerns.
“I understand the rationale where you have services and you want to put residential there, but I think in a golf course community or a master-planned community, that’s what was the exception here. It’s different when you’re an urban town centre when you expect them to change a bit more.”
Course management is in the process of redesigning the 18th hole.
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