Housing Project at Sharbot Lake Public School Site

Central Frontenac Council met for almost three hours last week with 2B consulting to talk about the Sharbot Lake Public School site.

Lindsay Blair was the point person for 2B at the meeting. 2B is familiar with Frontenac County, as they have been the consultants working on the Verona Housing project for South Frontenac County.

Central Frontenac purchased the Sharbot Lake Public School building and site in November 2015, along with the Hinchinbrook Public School building and site, for a total of $220,000, with a view towards renovating the buildings for an undetermined public use.

Within a month of making the purchase the township decided it was necessary to demolish Sharbot Lake Public School, but five years passed before the building was torn down in 2020, at an additional cost of $220,000.

The site has lain dormant ever since, although the former tennis court on the property has become an active Pickleball Court, thanks to the efforts of the Sharbot Lake Pickleball Association. The township has not paid into the Pickleball court's development, which has been financed through fundraising by the association.

A number of public meetings have been held about future development at the site as part of a downtown revitalisation program the township undertook.

The township received funding to have 2B development work on a proposal to develop a housing project on the site, and this meeting was an opportunity for 2B to present their initial findings and seek direction from Council.

Lindsay Blair started by saying 2B had determined that there is an opportunity to develop a 24-unit housing complex on the site, incorporating one and two-bedroom units at a rental cost of under $1,000 for the one-bedroom units and under $1,500 for the two-bedroom units.

She said that as far as servicing the housing project, i.e. providing water and sewage, the simplest way would be for a system to be constructed to deal exclusively with the housing project.

“You might want to consider working for other properties in Sharbot Lake, but if you do, it will make the process longer and require more studies,’ she said, “that is part of what we dealt with in South Frontenac and it made it a longer process. You need to decide if there is a community need that makes it worth taking longer in order to address other community needs.

“I know that there were problems from septic systems in Sharbot Lake that were dealt with, but it might be an issue again in the future, so that is a consideration,’ said Mayor Frances Smith.

Based on the cost of construction and financing in comparable projects they have worked on locally and across the province, 2B has concluded that a 24-unit complex could be built by the township, with an outlay in the range of $750,000, which could be paid back over time.

Blair said that the grant environment for municipally owned, or municipally built and not-for-profit run housing projects is looking promising over the next few years, which could help with the up front costs for the township.

The 2b team then did an on the spot survey to see if the council members at the meeting preferred exploring a municipally instigated project, similar to what south Frontenac is doing in Verona, or other variations, including simply looking to sell the property to a developer with agreed upon conditions for a project that the township would like to see.

The survey showed Council was wary of investing tax dollars or borrowing for the project, but was also interested in a project that they could control.

Another factor at play is a desire on the part of the township to put in a library branch, in the range of 2.500 to 3,000 square feet, as part of the project.

In order to move forward, Lindsay Blair recommended that the township invest $35,000 in a geotechnical and a hydrogeological study, which is a basic requirement for any housing development plan on the site, whether by the township or a private developer.

Councillor Duncan McGregor wondered if it would be worthwhile to go to the market to see if any developers would want to build a project that would fill the community need for affordable housing.

Blair said that in that case, the township could put out an EOI (expression of interest) to see what is out there, while still keeping all their options open.

She said she could prepare an EOI on the township’s behalf.

Council approved the studies as well, and a further meeting to see where the project stands, will take place once the studies are completed

Councillor Philip Smith said that after all the public consultation over the last five years, ‘I’m not sure what people will think when they see us ignoring all that input and doing our own thing.’

Mayor Smith said that is not exactly the case.

"That is why we held this meeting in public, so people can see it, instead of as an in-camera training session, and we also have the members of our housing committee here, so we are being transparent.”