by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative
Essex’s Committee of Adjustment (COA) approved the Consent Application to sever five lots for the developing Inspiration Industrial Park, located at 14798 14th Concession, at Pinkerton Road, just southwest of Highway 3.
The approval was granted, so long as the developer follows through on conditions the Town set out.
The around 13.5-hectares vacant property is located within the Primary Settlement Boundaries of Essex Centre, and is designated and zoned to accommodate General Industrial Uses in the Town of Essex Official Plan, Manager of Planning, Rita Jabbour, said during the COA meeting on January 21.
The holding zone restriction delays any construction of any buildings or structures on the lands until the hold is lifted. That occurs when the property, or part of it, is equipped with full municipal services, such as water, sanitary, and stormwater infrastructure. Jabbour noted the holding categorization does not prohibit the severance of the lands, prior to the hold being lifted.
Due to the strategic location of these lands – located along major road networks, such as Highway 3 and County Road 8, and the separation of the lands from more sensitive land-uses, such as residential, this area is planned as an employment area for industrial development, Jabbour noted.
The applicant proposed to sever five lots for industrial lot creation.
Lot 1 will have a lot area of 4.04-hectares, Lot 2 will have a lot area of 1.66-hectares, Lot 3 will have a lot area of 1.86-hectares, Lot 4 will have a lot area of 1.65-hectares, and Lot 5 will have a lot area of 0.81-hectares.
The retained lands will have a total area of 2.73-hectares.
All of the proposed lots satisfy the minimum lot width and lot area requirements in the Town Zoning By-Law, and do not require variances to support the severances.
The proposed lots, if created and developed, will have access through a private mutual service road that will be established by easement. Another application was presented that evening to allow for this easement.
The lots will also be serviced with potable municipal water through the proposed internal road right-of-way, and services with municipal sanitary sewers through the 14th Concession and Pinkerton Road right-of-way. Jabbour added the municipal water and sanitary sewers have been sized to service the lands, and contain enough capacity for adjacent lands in the area, should future industrial development be proposed.
A new bridge is proposed off of Pinkerton to provide access to the mutual road.
Jabbour noted that if the lots are created, they will be individually subject to more Site-Specific Assessments at the time of Site Plan Control approval, when there is an industrial development proposed for each lot.
The lots will not be developed until servicing is constructed and site plan approval is granted.
Jabbour added that under the Planning Act, the same criteria used to determine if a Plan of Subdivision should be approved is also used for a Consent Application. This development has regard to all listed criteria, specifically the need for Essex to have more employment opportunities.
“We have a deficit of 45-hectares of industrial land that we need to accommodate our employment needs for the next 25-years,” Jabbour explained. “This development will help us meet that goal, specifically because these lands can be serviced, they have no impact on the conservation of our natural resources, and they are suitable and they are desirable for development because of their location.”
The Planning Department recommended the approval of the five lots, subject to the standard conditions. In addition, the applicants will be required to enter into a Development Agreement, Servicing Agreement, and install a culvert along the 14th Concession drain.
The Consent Application was first heard in November of 2022, by the previous term of the Committee of Adjustment. The decision was deferred until additional information on a Stormwater Management Strategy was available to ensure the sizing of the proposed lots was appropriate, Jabbour noted.
The 2022 application had five lots, as well. However, the severance plan was slightly different, Jabbour relayed.
Since then, Jabbour noted a Stormwater Management Strategy and a Functional Servicing Report have been submitted and reached the satisfaction of the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) and the Town of Essex.
As such, Jabbour noted ERCA and the Town of Essex pose no objection to the proposed severance and severance plan.
In answering COA Chairperson Phil Pocock’s question about potential increase in traffic in the area and if anything was planned to improve the roads in anticipation of that, Director of Infrastructure Services, Kevin Girard, noted the Town is still in discussion with the developer about the future of Pinkerton and the potential upgrading of that road.
Girard added the applicant was asked to create the mutual access road and not have the lots front onto Pinkerton and the 14th Concession to limit truck traffic on those local roads. The Town is intending to investigate that a little further, however, Pinkerton is currently supporting the truck traffic.
Through the Development Agreement, the Town plans to potentially impose some conditions to review the appropriateness of that.
Connected to the Consent Application, the Town of Essex also received a request to create a 24-metre-wide easement for the purpose of road access in favour of the industrial lots, proposed to be created over Lot 3. It will provide access to the five lots, and will accommodate water servicing.
The Planning Department recommended approval, subject to the conditions of the submission of a Registered Reference Plan, signed transfers, confirmation of all taxes paid, and that the conditions be fulfilled by January 21, 2027.
The COA approved the easement as well.