You may have heard that the City Council will be voting on Sept 24 on changes to permitted forms and heights of housing in existing neighbourhoods like ours.  A key change is to permit stacked townhouses and apartment buildings up to 4 storeys in height anywhere on Lawson Road and on Sleightholme/Wychwood from Sarnia to Lawson. 

At this point, and before any building takes place, a rezoning application is still required first.  Whether or not this will result in any building at all, or at what price points, is unknown at this time.  For more details, see this document that shows the old rules for type and height of housing (the first two colour pages) and the new version (the other two pages).  We are in the Primary Transit Area. 

The other change is to permitted building heights on Sarnia Road (a Civic Boulevard), from a maximum of 6 storeys to up to 8 storeys.  This may affect the proposed development at 299-307 Sarnia Road which is still in the works.  However, the stacked townhouse at 279 Sarnia Road is still being processed as 3 storeys and will be before City Council in October (click here). 

If you are either concerned or want to express your support about these changes, please write the Mayor and Deputy Mayor at mayor@london.ca and s.lewis@london.ca  as well as our Councillor, Sam Trosow at strosow@london.ca  

Please also consider a cc to opsfrp@gmail.com so that the Executive of the Neighbourhood Association has a sense of the opinion of residents.

ORCHARD PARK/SHERWOOD FOREST GARAGE SALE – Saturday, May 11 from 8 am – noon

The annual community garage sale is coming up on Saturday, May 11. You may have seen the notices on mailboxes.  If spring cleaning has left you with things you would like to sell or even give away, here is a chance.  All you need to do is have a table at the end of your driveway.  No table?  Try tarps or plastic bags on your lawn or driveway.

DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL FOR 279 SARNIA ROAD – INFORMATION SESSION MAY 15^th, at University Heights Public School, pre-registration required

The planning consultants for the proponent will be providing information on the proposed development of 20, three-storey stacked townhouse dwellings: 10 three-storey back-to-back townhouses fronting Sarnia Road, and 10 three-storey back-to-back townhouses located at the rear of the property.  There is still some question on whether or not limits on the number of bedrooms per unit in Near Campus Neighbourhoods will continue. 

Additional developments along Sarnia Road are expected as Sarnia Road’s classification allows for higher density than what currently exists.

If you or a neighbour are unable to attend the open house but still wish to make comments, please submit them by email to danieli.s@zpplan.com or in writing by mail to:

Zelinka Priamo Ltd.
Attn: Danieli Sikelero Elsenbruch, Planner
318 Wellington Road
London, ON, N6C 4P4

COMMUNITY BBQ AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – starting at 6 pm on Tuesday, May 28^th

We will be having our 8^th annual BBQ along with our annual general meeting at Orchard Park Public School.  The BBQ starts at 6 pm, with the meeting following at 7:30.  There will be information from the City’s Transportation and Waste Management staff, a City Hall update and Q and A with Councillor Trosow, a Treasurer’s report and election of the Executive.   (We have one vacancy on the Executive if you are interested).

NEIGHBOURHOOD DECISION MAKING: EXTENDING THE DEADLINE FOR YOUR IDEAS

If you are still thinking about ideas for Neighbourhood Decision Making, you are in luck – the deadline to send ideas to Gina and Doug has been extended to May 15^th. 

For more information, please contact either: 

• Doug: dougb13@outlook.com  or
• Gina: gcmartin29@gmail.com

WE NEED YOUR IDEAS!! 

The City of London organizes an annual Neighbourhood Decision Making Program that encourages neighbourhoods to identify needs and come up with ideas to make their neighbourhood stronger, safer, connected, and vibrant! Last year the Orchard Park / Sherwood Forest neighbourhoods received City funding for Picnic Tables in Sherwood Forest Park valued at $13,000! 

Residents submit their ideas to the City and everyone gets to vote on which ideas they want to see come to life. That’s what makes this program special — the community gets to decide! 

This City program started in 2016…if you want to get some ideas from previous winners click here (https://getinvolved.london.ca/21609/widgets/131899/documents/87224) some examples include: 

• Park upgrades
• Save the Bees & Butterflies Pollinator Gardens
• Upgraded hiking paths
• Little libraries
• Community benches

The Orchard Park / Sherwood Forest Neighbourhood Association Executive would like to champion this amazing opportunity in our neighbourhood for the 2024 campaign. But to make this work – WE NEED YOUR IDEAS!! 

Next steps: 

1.       Think about our neighbourhood and what sort of amenities and improvements would benefit our residents. Discuss the ideas with your neighbours. Check out previous ideas from other winners at the link that was supplied above. 

2.       Send your ideas to opsfrp@gmail.com by May 15. 

3.       We will present a list of ideas at our 8^th Annual Community BBQ and Annual General Meeting on Tues 28 May 2024 at Orchard Park Public School. We’ll ask those attending the AGM to vote on where the Executive should devote their energies to help make that idea come out on top during the City selection period. 

·City wide voting will occur in Aug-Sept 2024. 

Lastly, but importantly, many hands make light work, and so if you are interested in supporting our project proposal and have a few hours to volunteer between May and Sept 2024, then please reach out to Doug or Gina and we’ll let you know how to support the Project!