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“You’re just asking for another disaster” Proposed 8-storey development draws strong opposition at Council

February 5, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

An application submitted by Humphries Planning Group Inc. on behalf of Camcos (Bolton Village) Inc. regarding an eight-storey residential building and back-to-back townhouse units hit the floor of Council this Tuesday.

The proposed application faced numerous concerns from both delegates and Council.

The application dates back to 2021, when the applicant originally submitted a proposed Official Plan Amendment for only one of the locations now proposed in the final application, 13656 Emil Kolb Parkway.

Following the application, Camcos (Bolton Village) Inc. purchased 13656 Emil Kolb Parkway and the adjacent lands at 13668 Emil Kolb Parkway.

Now, on both properties, the applicant is proposing an eight-storey building with 102 residential units and 22 stacked townhouse units, with a maximum density of 150 units per hectare.

They have submitted Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment applications to permit the buildings.

The proposed sites are just over two acres in total and sit on the corner of the intersection with Harvest Moon Drive and Emil Kolb Parkway.

This proposal also comes with 168 parking spaces and a roundabout adjacent to Emil Kolb Parkway.

When the public meeting was first scheduled, resident Stephanie Scarpelli, who lives in the Harvest Moon Drive community, began a petition opposing the development.

It has since garnered almost 900 signatures.

She delegated Tuesday evening on the proposal, sharing her concerns not only for her own family’s safety but for the communities.

Scarpelli expressed concerns about the already high traffic on Emil Kolb Parkway, including trucks, as well as problems with the Harvest Moon Drive subdivision’s entrance and exit onto the parkway.

“At what point do the consultants start to take into consideration that every time there is an extreme increase in density within our small, poorly maintained and underdeveloped infrastructure, will the increase in traffic time become catastrophic?” said Scarpelli.

With all the units proposed, Scarpelli fears what it will do to the intersection of Harvest Moon and Emil Kolb Parkway.

“You’re affecting our entire community by imposing such a dense building at our only controlled in and out of our community. We are not like other subdivisions. We don’t have five, six, seven, eight entrances. We have one, and you guys are adding more to it.”

With her son a patient at Sick Kids, she voiced concerns about the already increased time it takes her to travel there, “guess how long it takes me to get home from Sick Kids now with this increase in density?”

Delegate Veronica Conte, who delegated in December 2025 against a four-storey rental apartment building in her own community, also voiced her opposition to the proposal.

“Residents of Bolton are not anti-development. What we are opposed to is growth that is imposed rather than properly planned. Growth that outpaces infrastructure, growth that ignores traffic congestion, emergency response times, school capacity, and the most important of them all, safety,” said Conte.

Numerous delegates spoke of Adrianna McCauley, who lost her life in 2024 when a truck driver ran a red light at the same intersection near the proposal.

Resident Colleen Monaco not only lives in the nearby subdivision but is a friend of Adrianna’s mother, Pia.

“That intersection, excluding this property that’s going to be built there, is already very dangerous,” says Monaco. “If you add all this to that intersection and we’ve had a discussion that a truck route is between two subdivisions already where our children cross, and don’t have enough time to cross and those trucks run the red light, it just doesn’t make any sense why we would put more density there on a corner that’s already dangerous.”

“You’re just asking for another disaster. It’s not going to be safe.”

Amanda Corbett delegated from the Caledon Community Road Safety Advocacy Group, which was formed following McCauley’s passing.

Corbett expressed her concerns not only regarding traffic safety but also the proximity of the proposed roundabout to Emil Kolb parkway.

“How long do we think it’s going to be before there’s a truck in that building?”

Delegates continued into the night, voicing concerns about parking, snow removal, congestion, traffic safety, safety for school buses and children walking to school, cycling, emergency access, and the loss of commercial land.

Many residents noted the lost opportunity to use the land for commercial use for the surrounding subdivisions, and some shared that when they moved to the neighbourhood they had been told it was planned for commercial use.

One delegate referenced Sorrento Retirement Residence, an eight-story development a street over from the proposal.

Erica McNiece pointed out that although Sorrento generates “lower vehicular demand than a full eight-story apartment complex development,” Station Road is lined with parked vehicles, forcing drivers to change lanes into oncoming traffic to navigate the street.

A topic that night at the planning meeting, voiced by many residents, was the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT). 

When municipalities deny planning applications, an applicant can appeal to the OLT.

“I am not in favour of what’s being proposed here, especially that eight-story building that close to the roundabout,” says Corbett. “We do have to stand up for our community when the time is right. However, as taxpayers in this community, we can’t stand up and fight every single one.”

“You have to be aware that if we can work together, have a conversation and continue having a conversation with Council, with staff, with the developer, and try to come up with something that works for everyone, I think that’s where we win as a community,” she says.

Many voices that night echoed the same thought, not that they’re against development in Bolton, but development that will impact the safety of residents.

Council also shared their opinions and concerns, many of which were echoed by residents, including parking, snow removal, proximity to the road, and access to the surrounding subdivisions.

Additional issues addressed by Council included air quality, and a lack of maximum when it comes to units and people per hectare.

Following the public meeting, all feedback and concerns will be taken back, and a Staff report will come forward with a recommendation, at which time Council will vote on the proposal.

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