The site of a former Hespeler manufacturing plant was buzzing with activity last week as chainsaws ripped through more than two dozen mature trees on the empty property fronting Bechtel Street and Groh Avenue.
The tree removal sparked a number of calls to Ward 2 councillor Mike Devine who said the city is looking into the possibility of fining the property owner.
“We had some that were quite upset about the removal of trees," he said. “There were some beautiful pines on Bechtel Street.”
Located across from Jacob Hespeler Secondary School’s sports fields, the property has been rumoured for redevelopment for years, but the City of Cambridge has yet to receive a development application from owner King & Benton Development Corp.
Cambridge director of communications Susanne Hiller said city staff are aware of the tree removal and are “actively engaged with the property owner.”
In an emailed statement, she said work on the site has been “halted while the city reviews the situation in relation to our by-laws, policies, and practices related to the development process.”
Fines laid out under the Provincial Offences Act list the fine for unlawful tree removal at $125 per tree.
Devine said removing the trees was not part of a 2017 demolition permit for the former Rauscher Plating Limited manufacturing plant. The business went bankrupt in 2010 and the building was left abandoned and neglected before demolition.
According to a Brantford-based development company however, plans are in the works to redevelop the site as a complex of residential and commercial space.
On its website, the 11-acre site at 180 Groh Ave. is listed among the company’s land redevelopment projects and features a concept drawing by planning and urban design architects MHBC. The plan shows a proposal for stacked townhouses, apartments and mixed use units, including three high-rise towers. The total number of units in the concept plan is 1,176.
In its description of the redevelopment, however, the number of total units is listed at 700, “including condos and townhouses, as well as a new community space for the City of Cambridge.”
Construction, it says, is expected to begin in late 2021.
“The developer can put on the website whatever they choose but there’s been no development application," Devine said. "It’s not gone to city council, so they can put on whatever they want but right now there’s been approval given for nothing,”
Rezoning the property for residential use is something he said council would consider if an application comes forward.
“Clearly it needs a zone change. The likelihood of that property being employment lands again is probably slim to none but whatever we do there has to be respectful to the neighbourhood.”
Referring to another residential development underway, at Queen and Adam streets, Devine said there is a need for more rental properties in Hespeler.
“To be quite honest with you, in Ward 2 and north of the 401 we really don’t have enough rental properties.”
But with no development application from the owners, and apparent disregard for the city’s tree by-law in the way of progress, when that might happen is anyone’s guess.
Devine said the city hasn’t seen an environmental report on the site either.
King & Benton’s website states remediation of heavy metals at the former plating factory is “well underway,” with Trichloroethylene (TCE) and Volatile Organic Compounds identified for removal.
“If there’s any sort of contamination it has to be remediated,” Devine said.
King & Benton CEO Steve Charest did not respond to a request for comment.
