In the west end of Guelph you will find the newest part of town, 230 acres of land sitting on top of about 11 million litres of precious ground water. Presently, this land is still the Dolime Quarry, but in the years to come it will be a new subdivision. So with development plans currently in the works, the land’s owner, River Valley Developments, opened up the doors for the first time for public input.

“This is just an announcement. We’re starting the process,” explained Bob Baxter, who’s the general manager of River Valley Developments. “We’re getting feedback from tonight, and then there’ll be another public open house. And there will certainly be access through public planning process too so there’s lots of opportunity for people to provide feedback.”

Feedback wasn’t an issue at this initial open house at Kortright Presbyterian Church Wednesday night. There was however some disappointment that the developer didn’t have more to offer in terms of firm plans around the type of homes that will be vuilt, and where on the site they’ll be located. Placards on easels around the room offered insights into the history of the project and the planning process going forward. Also, there was an acknowledgement of one big “environmental constraint”, the quarry lake at the south end of the property.

“We look at it as an attractive feature, and it will be railed and safe so that people can walk or do activities around the lake, and then there’ll be connections to the river trail,” Baxter said. “So there’s a great opportunity to enhance the trail system around the property, and along the river that connects to the City of Guelph trails. The lake will be a feature of the development.”

There are a few certainties aside from the lake. When the Ministerial Zoning Order that annexed the Quarry went into effect in 2022, Guelph’s growth target drew from 203,000 to 208,000, which means that the future development on the Dolime lands has to accommodate 5,000 new residents. The lands are now designated residential, but there’s still a whole lot of planning that has to get done before construction begins.

“They still have to go through zoning amendments, Official Plan amendments, and a block plan process, and then they’ll submit it to [the City]. It looks like it’s the summer we’ll see it and then we’ll come through a public process in the fall,” explained Krista Walkey, the City of Guelph’s general manager of planning and building services. “That has to be approved before they do the detailed zoning and site plan and then the subdivision will be done in phases, but we don’t have an application at this time.”

There’s still a lot of work to get done between now and when an application will be presented to staff for their first opportunity to review sometime in June. “There’s a part of the planning process that has to evolve based on the needs,” Baxter said. “There’s a variety of assessments that have to be done.”

“We want a neighbourhood, but we also need to consult with the school board and the GRCA and our Environmental Advisory Committee because it is adjacent to the river,” Walkey said about the City’s goals for the site. “We need a neighbourhood commercial centre so that someone can get milk and they don’t have to try to cross the Hanlon or Wellington Street.”

One of the boards outlined the things that the developers said they’re already been hearing including net-zero buildings, transit and trail connections, connections across the river, lots of commercial and recreational opportunities, and the preservation of natural space in the area, especially the quarry lake.

As for the current state of the property, Baxter said that quarry operations are still happening on site, but they’ve also begun rehabilitation work on the property. If you have any ideas or concerns about development in the Dolime Quarry you can send an email to dolime.quarry [at] strategycorp.com.