Development proposal at site of Kingston, Ont. prison for women receives important approval

It was a big victory for the developers of the former prison for women site in Kingston, Ont.

At Tuesday night’s Kingston city council meeting, the second-last for the current administration, council approved the official plan and zoning by-law amendments for 40 Sir John A. Macdonald Blvd. requested by Siderius Developments, the group who has proposed a mixed-use residential development for the property, which has sat unused since the early 2000s.

“This approval tonight for zoning approval, official plan amendment approval and draft plan of subdivison approval is a milestone for us,” said Martin Skolnick of Siderius Developments.

He said that the project involves multiple different facets spread out across four blocks.

“There is a retirement home on one block, there is a hotel or apartment building on another block, there’s a residential condominium on the heritage block where the existing building sits today,” he said.

Though most of council was behind the approval, one councillor disagreed, citing a petition from residents in the area that were in opposition of the development, saying it’s not right for the area.

Coun. Bridget Doherty made a motion to defer the decision on the project until the newly-elected council takes over, but the rest of council wanted to move ahead with the approval.

Many councillors said that they were more than satisfied with the amount of public consultation that had been undertaken by the developers and that it was late in the game for a petition to come forth.

As is common with projects of this nature, the subdivision plan faces more approvals needed before going ahead as planned.

While this approval puts them on the right path, Skolnick said the project is still six to eight months away from getting shovels in the ground, if everything goes to plan.