Residents wary about townhouse proposal near Hamilton and Gore roads

Some residents in an east London subdivision are nervous about a new townhouse proposal that would be built near their backyard property lines.

“Our daughter was born in this house, and we specifically sought out this neighbourhood,” said Fundy Avenue resident Karyn Bailey.

Fundy Avenue is a small, quiet cul-de sac in the Fairmont subdivision near Hamilton and Gore roads.

Developer Richfield Custom Homes wants to build a townhouse complex on a large parcel of land at 1484 Gore Rd., which backs onto a number of lots on Fundy Avenue.

The proposal includes eight non-stacked townhouses on the northern portion of the property, along with a three and a half storey stacked townhouse building with 16 units fronting onto Gore Road.

“I don’t understand how our community, which can barely support the residents who live here, is going to support the addition of that many people,” said Bailey. “We have one school, we’re down to one elementary public school, and one catholic school, both of which are over capacity,” she explained.

Karyn Bailey stands in front of her home on Fundy Avenue on Aug. 22, 2024. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

The 24-townhouse units would have 18 parking spaces total. Fundy Avenue resident Steve Thompson said it’s a mismatch.

“If you pile 30 more units and 30 more families back here, it’s just going to pile up. You have to assume that they’re all going to have a vehicle, right? So it’s just added traffic,” he said.

The development would be just to the east of the notorious Y-shaped Hamilton-Gore intersection. This awkward crossroads carries some 35,000 vehicles per day.

It is slated for potential reconfiguration to a roundabout by 2026.

“I don’t understand how adding more traffic coming out of a medium high density development is going to flow onto Gore Road. It’s backed up every single day,” said Bailey.

Fundy Avenue, seen on Aug. 22, 2024, is located in the Fairmont subdivision near Gore and Hamilton Roads. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

The detached rental home now at 1484 Gore Rd. would be torn down.

Next-door neighbour Rick Thomas said he’s not concerned about the townhouse proposal.

“For the most part, we need the homes. It’s a nice big piece of property. So, works out,” he said.

CTV News reached out to Stantec, the developer’s planning consultant, for an interview about the townhouse proposal, but did not receive a response as of this article’s publication date.

The developer is hosting a community information meeting about the proposal on Tuesday, Aug. 27, from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Marconi Club, 120 Clarke Rd. London.