866-unit subdivision being proposed for the outskirts of Arthur

Hamilton Spectator

09-05-2025

ARTHUR – A proposed housing development could bring almost 900 new residential lots to Arthur in the coming years.
Developer Tribute/Sorbara Arthur Holdings Inc. has applied for an official plan bylaw amendment to construct 866 housing units on 55.34 hectares at 665 Eliza St. and a vacant lot west of Eliza Street, a rural spot just northeast of the town proper.
The applicant is seeking an Official Plan amendment and zoning changes to permit the development to redesignate the subject lands from 'future development' to 'residential'.
Currently occupied by a farmstead and cropland with frontage on Eliza Street, the development is proposed to comprise 504 single detached residential units, 114 semi-detached residential lots, 249 street townhouse units, parks, a stormwater management pond, a well and a sanitary pumping station.
'The proposed development will transform agricultural and low-density residential land into a community with housing, parks, and essential infrastructure,' said the planning justification report.
According to the report, the development will not include affordable housing units and is instead proposing a range of housing types to ensure 'broader housing options for people in different life stages.'
A noise compatibility assessment found existing and future industrial uses to the south and northeast of the development may exceed the MECP noise limits, but is feasible with 'appropriate noise mitigation measures' like forced air ventilation, noise barriers of up to six metres, redesignating the area, and/or warning clauses in property agreements.
Proposed to have access to Eliza Street and Macaulay Street, which remains unopened, the report says the existing and future road connections and future internal road network will accommodate the daily anticipated traffic levels of 478 and 646 vehicle trips. A future signal installation at Eliza and Tucker may be considered.
Given Arthur's servicing constraints, the development will require a new sewage pumping station and an upgrade to the existing wastewater treatment plant, which the report proposes should be included in the township's final municipal strategy. A new well is proposed at the intersection of Macaulay and Wells Street.
While a buffer zone with parks is proposed between the residential units and nearby dust emission sources at Clark Brothers Contracting and Teeswater Concrete Ltd. to alleviate future air quality issues, the proposed development is considered adequately distanced from nearby industrial and agricultural cities to avoid negative impacts on air quality and unpleasant smells.
Since Farley Creek crosses the site, 2.62 hectares is proposed to be preserved as a protected natural environmental area.
With two elementary schools, a private school and no high school located near the site, local school boards have been asked to identify the existing school capacity.
The full report is available
here
.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.