Township of Blandford-Blenheim supported two proposed plans of subdivision and zone change applications for lands in Princeton during its regular Council meeting on Wednesday, April 15, 2026.
The first application for the plan of subdivision and zone change were in regards to lands located on the south side of Railway Street West and west of Elgin Street West, Victoria Street Vest and Peter Street.
The roughly 35.5 acre property, is currently vacant of any buildings or structures, and have historically been used for agricultural purposes.
At the time of the initial application submission in 2023, the land was solely owned by Van Wees Roses Inc., however, since then, a land transfer resulted in the Township acquiring 5.4 acres of the land for stormwater management purposes.
As part of the application, the proposed draft plan of subdivision consists of 40 lots for single detached dwellings, to be serviced by municipal water services and private septic systems.
Two new public streets are proposed to service the development, both with access from Railway Street West. As well, both Elgin Street West and Peter Street would be extended to serve the proposed development, and Victoria Street West would be connected but not extended.
A block to access the existing stormwater management facility from Peter Street is also proposed on the southside.
“I would like to point out, there is an existing walkway that currently connects Peter Street to the rest of Princeton Park,” said Dustin Robson, Township of Blandford-Blenheim Planner. “That is proposed to remain even with the extension of Peter Street, so there would still be that linkage to Princeton Park.”
In regards to the zone change, the applicant proposed rezoning the lands from Residential Type 1 (R1) and Development (D) to R1 and Open Space (OS), noting that the latter is the preferred zoning for municipal stormwater management facilities.
“The intent of the R1 zone is to allow for low-density residential uses like a single-detached dwelling, as well as additional residential units, or if there was an existing converted dwelling, that would also be permitted,” said Robson. “I would also like to point out the R1 provisions. In terms of minimum frontage, it’s 35 metres, and minimum lot area is 2,800-square-metres. The reason I’m pointing that out is because each of the 40 lots that’s currently being proposed, meets the minimum set forth by the R1 zoning, so there are no special provisions being requested here. I would also point out that the maximum building height for a single-detached dwelling in the R1 zone is 11 metres, which is approximately 36 feet.”
In terms of comments that were received as a result of the internal and external agency circulation, Oxford County Public Works provided a number of conditions of draft approval and confirmed that there is sufficient capacity for water for each of the 40 units being proposed.
“With that being said, I would just like to take a moment just to have a brief discussion about servicing in Princeton. As it stands today, Princeton is what they call a constrained system, and what that means is there’s a finite amount of capacity available in the system,” explained Robson. “In this case, there’s currently around 88 units worth of capacity available in the Princeton system. So this application, the one we’re going to talk about after this, and any future applications, they all come from the same pot which is the 88 units. …But again, for this specific draft plan, Public Works has advised there’s sufficient capacity.”
The Planner said that staff were recommending the application for approval as the proposal meets the direction of the Provincial Planning Statement (PPS) and the Township’s Official Plan (OP), and efficiently uses land and infrastructure within a designated settlement.
CN Rail also outlined a number of conditions to be imposed surrounding warning clauses, environmental easement and a CN Development agreement.
Jay McGuffin of Monteith Brown Planning Consultants, the applicant speaking on behalf of the owners, said he and his colleague had the opportunity to review Robson’s planning report and were in agreement with its recommendations.
Noting that this was a public meeting held under the Planning Act, Mayor Mark Peterson then opened the floor to residents wanting to speak on the item.
Eight people took the opportunity to ask questions and share their concerns, many of which related to water servicing capacity, drainage, traffic, school capacity, park access, and the overall impact of growth on the culture of the village.
In regards to the concerns about growth affecting the character of the village, the mayor pointed out that the land has been zoned for development since the late 1970s. He and Councillors Nancy Demarest, Bruce Banbury and Tina Young, all noted that change isn’t always bad and that Princeton will have to grow in order to sustain itself.
“This development isn’t going to happen within a year. This is going to take five to eight, maybe even ten years. So yes, there’s going to be growth, but it will be controlled, and it’ll be in a gradual way,” said Demarest. “…And while that’s happening, what you’ll find is that your downtown core will start to develop as well. I love Princeton; I already think it’s great and vibrant. There’s a lot of family members that have been there for years and years, there’s Friends of Princeton Park–they’re a mainstay in that village–and none of that will go away. With this gradual growth, it’s only going to bring more commerce and vitality to the downtown, and in a gradual way.”
“Having observed the growth that’s happened in Drumbo over the years, it’s not something that changes the culture of the village overnight., and it can really be a positive evolution for the village. I’m sure there’s a lot of people here that would love to see more activity, businesses and places to meet in the core and around Princeton, and we just can’t do that if we don’t have some growth,” she continued. “We just can’t sustain the village if we don’t have growth. This isn’t about trying to fill the coffers. This is about survival of the village. And I think anybody around this table will agree that Princeton is just as important as Drumbo, Plattsville, Bright and all the other villages, and we have to do something here in order to ensure it’s sustained.”
Following several other comments, the vote to approve the plan of subdivision in-principle was later carried. Noting that the final decision is up to Oxford County council, the Township will be sending their letter of support for the development.
Afterwards, Robson returned to share the details of the second application for the plan of subdivision and zoning change, also submitted by Van Wees Roses Inc.
The second application was in regards to lands located on the north side of Highway 2 and the east side of Emma Street. The lands are on the east of the Village of Princeton rather than the west.
The roughly 36.5 acre property has historically been used for agricultural purposes.
Like the former item, at the time of the initial application submission in 2023, the land was solely owned by Van Wees Roses Inc., however, since then, a land transfer resulted in the Township acquiring 9 acres of the land for stormwater management purposes.
As part of the application, the proposed draft plan of subdivision consists of 41 lots for single detached dwellings, to be serviced by municipal water services and private septic systems.
Two new public streets are proposed to service the development, and will connect with Emma Street and Highway 2. One block for a walkway is also being proposed on one of the new eternal streets and will connect to the existing stormwater management facility.
In regards to the zone change, the application proposes rezoning the lands from Development (D) and Special Highway Commercial Zone (HC-3) to R1, OS and Special General Agriculture Zone (A2-sp). Again noting that OS is the preferred zoning for municipal stormwater management facilities.
“There are no special provisions being requested at this time for the lots that are proposed, so they will meet all the minimum requirements in the zoning by-law,” said Robson. “The one-hectare piece of land on the north side, which is proposed to be conveyed to the farm to the east, is being proposed to be rezoned to A2. What we would recommend as staff is a special provision on this that specifically prohibits any livestock barns, manure storage buildings or structures to be permitted on that piece of land simply because it is technically within the settlement boundary.”
Like the former application, Oxford County Public Works provided a number of conditions of draft approval and confirmed that there is sufficient capacity for water for each of the 41 units being proposed.
“But again, it’s coming out of the 88 unit pot,” said Robson. “So in total, 81 units would be coming out of that 88 unit pot.”
CN Rail also provided the same comments as it did for the development on the west side of Princeton.
The planner went on to say that the proposed development also meets the direction of the PPS and the Township’s OP, and efficiently uses land and infrastructure within a designated settlement.
McGuffin also added that he and his colleagues, like the previous application, were in agreement with the report’s recommendations and conditions.
Mayor Peterson once again opened the floor to the public for comments and concerns, however no one took the opportunity to address the application as they had already shared their overall thoughts on development previously.
Demarest then took a moment to say how rare it was for developers not to ask for special provisions, and commended them for their efforts.
“The developers have been working within the constraints of the PPS, the OP and all of our zoning by-laws,” she said. “To me, that says they’ve been working really hard at all of this to ensure that they’re meeting the required criteria. They haven’t come to council to ask for any exceptions to anything, so I wanted to just bring that to the forefront, because it is so rare. I think it’s important that we give kudos where they’re due.”
The vote to approve the plan of subdivision in-principle was later carried. Noting that the final decision is up to Oxford County council, the Township will be sending their letter of support for the development.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
