Saugeen Shores council received a modified Site Plan application for 108 stacked townhouses at the northeast corner of Devonshire Rd. and Waterloo St., part of the larger Port Elgin Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites Hotel lands in north Port Elgin. Feb 19, 2026 • Last updated Feb 20, 2026 • An architect’s rendering shows the concept for a 108 unit stacked condominium townhouse development proposed for the northeast corner of Devonshire Rd. and Waterloo St. in Port Elgin. Photo by Town of Saugeen Shores A modified Site Plan in north Port Elgin calls for 108 stacked condominium townhouses, not three six-storey apartment buildings with 195 units, as initially proposed by Summerside Land Holdings and Lord Elgin Estates Developments Limited. This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A Site Plan presented to Saugeen Shores Council for information Feb. 17 calls for ten stacked townhouse buildings, each with eight and 12-unit buildings, on land adjacent to the Port Elgin Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites Hotel site on the northeast corner of Devonshire Rd. and Waterloo St. Candace Hamm, the Town’s Development Services Officer said the proposal is a “well-designed and cost-efficient development.”
She said a 2021/2022 re-designation and rezoning allowed for high-density residential development. In 2024, a proposal for three six-storey residential apartment buildings was presented to Council, and a Minor Variance granted to allow the development. Hamm said the developer “modified” the proposal to the current stacked townhouse development that will be run as a condominium corporation with private ownership. All interior roads will be private and maintained by the condominium corporation that will also provide services like garbage collection and snow removal.
At 36.9 per cent, Hamm said the landscaped/ open space area proposed exceeds the Town’s minimum requirement of 30 per cent. This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. An emergency access route provides an additional in/out to the site for emergency vehicles.
“This proposal is a well-designed and cost-efficient development. The stacked townhome design adds diversity to the Town’s range and mix of housing types,” Hamm said. Several councillors spoke in favour of the proposal, and several raised the issue of disclosure – should the town require that potential buyers be notified that they will not get town services but will pay for them on their property tax bill. Vice Deputy Mayor Mike Myatt complemented the owner/developer for bringing 108 units onto the market and commended them for exceeding the Town’s greenspace requirement. Coun. Bud Halpin echoed Vice Deputy Mayor Myatt’s comments. “It looks like a really super good job on the landscaping and everything around it to make it a really attractive place,” Halpin said, adding the proposal looks attractive and would be a good addition to the town’s housing mix.
Coun. Halpin questioned who would be responsible for recycling, noting that a condominium corporation in Port Elgin (Eagle Court in the Westlinks development) had petitioned council for a 30 per cent tax break because they pay taxes for, but do not get, municipal services including garbage collection, snow removal, or street lighting, that residents on neighbouring town streets do.
This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Coun. Rachel Stack said the current private road/private services situation “seems a bit off” and sked for a report, and possibly public information, as the issue keeps arising with more condo developments coming. She said some people are not aware they are paying condominium fees for the services that they are also paying municipal taxes for.
Staff said Council should see that report in April. Deputy Mayor Diane Huber called it a redevelopment proposal that probably will make people living in the area happy that “three big towers” will not be built on the site.
She said she was “grateful” to see that a second emergency access had been added for safety.
A modified Site Plan application calls for 108 stacked townhouse condominiums – not three six-storey apartment buildings with 195 units – on the northeast corner of Waterloo St. and Devonshire Rd. at the north end of Port Elgin. Photo by Town of Saugeen Shores
Huber said as they wait to see a development proposal for adjacent property facing Goderich St., she hopes they look at connectivity with pathways and walkways to encourage people to get out of their cars and get around by foot or bicycle.“It’s nice to see this proposal not be three tall towers. I don’t think it’s, I guess, our business why the change came but that’s an interesting one as the proposal before us about, maybe a year-and-a -half two years ago now, was very ambitious…” Huber said, getting confirmation from Hamm that the stacked townhouse proposal is approximately 95 fewer units than the original apartment buildings proposal. This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Coun. Cheryl Grace asked if the municipality gives a developer a choice of providing private roads and collection services when they submit a development application. Mark Paoli, the Town’s director of Development Services said it would depend on the layout of the proposal, and that usually condominium corporations provide their own roads, often smaller than municipal standards to make room for more units. Coun. Grace said it’s very frustrating” for the Eagle Court residents in Port Elgin who pay for services they don’t get. She said Bruce County told her any change would have to come from a developer and asked if there was a way the town could require the developer to disclose the private services situation to potential buyers. Hamm said she assumed that when negotiating a purchase of sale agreement there would be disclosure under the Ontario Condominium Act and that she would like to think that informed condo buyers understand their contracts. This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Mayor Luke Charbonneau said condominiums exist as a very successful form of development in Saugeen Shores because lower development costs benefit both the buyer and developer. He said the town needs to assert its interests, possibly by having condo buyers sign a waiver, that they do not expect and will not ask for municipal services, before the situation becomes untenable.
The mayor said that could be part of staff’s aforementioned report, and suggested staff could also “express clearly to developers council’s reservations with approving condominium corporation with these service structures because they are becoming a problem…” Charbonneau said. He said developers who see a big market in condominiums need to indemnify the Town to ensure ”we don’t get dragged in, in 10 or 20 years to have to do something that nobody ever planned for us to do,” Charbonneau said, concluding its a “great development” that would fill the “missing middle” of the local housing market. Town staff and the Town’s Accessibility Advisory Committee have reviewed and commented on the modified Site Plan and Hamm said subject to Council’s comments a Site Plan Control agreement would be drafted once the final drawings are complete and all issues had been addressed. Share this article in your social network
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