Tag: Sherwood Forest

Great Near Campus Neighbourhoods OMB Hearing

The city was successful at the Ontario Municipal Board. The Great Near Campus Neighbourhood policies are now in force and effect. This means that new construction in the core of the area including stacked townhouses, semis, duplexes and four-plexes in our area may only have a maximum of three bedrooms per unit (i.e., a duplex could have 3 bedrooms in each unit for a total of 6). More intense uses will be directed to transportation nodes and corridors. Other parts of the policy dictate how much parking and pavement can be on the site as well as how large the bedrooms are in relation to the floor space. Overall, this is seen as a positive for our area.

You can get the background and reports on the policies at http://www.london.ca/d.aspx?s=/Planning/studentstrategy.htm

May update

ORCHARD PARK PUBLIC SCHOOL
The Thames Valley Board has voted to retain the name. You’ll recall that the Board has a process to review the name when one school closes in an area. Thanks to those of you who participated in the process.

SHERWOOD FOREST PUBLIC SCHOOL – CLOSING CEREMONY
On June 19th at 2:15 pm, there will be a closing ceremony for this school. It should be about an hour. An ad will appear in the Free Press and you are encouraged to let others know. Notice will also be posted on the school’s web site. RSVPs are appreciated so that enough chairs will be available. Call the school office at 452-8540 to let them know if you will be attending.

UPDATE ON NEW USE FOR SCHOOL SITE
The school site group is still waiting for an update from City Hall and school board staff as to how a possible change in ownership might work. Stay tuned as more information is expected in June.

BUCKTHORN BUSTING
Buckthorn is a non-native, invasive species that is spreading in London’s Environmentally Sensitive Areas. Come out to the Longbow entrance to the Medway Valley to bust some buckthorn on June 18th at 5 pm. The rain date is June 19th at the same time. The city web site http://www.london.ca will have a weather update on the 18th.

Information from AGM

Thanks to all who came out for the ratepayers’ Annual General Meeting on Wednesday night. Great turnout – approximately 175 people.

Here are a number of items from the meeting:

  • Heather Chapman from the City of London’s Municipal Law Enforcement Services gave a presentation.
  • A general concern of the neighborhood is the increasing number of houses rented to students, and the potential impact on the neighborhood. Here is a map of houses in Orchard Park/Sherwood Forest currently rented to students. If you have updates or additions for the map, contact Sandy Levin.
  • Updates on the widening of Sarnia Road, Medway Valley, and a rezoning request for a property on Sarnia Rd.
  • Update from the Steering Committee regarding the Sherwood Forest School Site.

Following the update on the school site, a survey was distributed to get a sense of the community’s preferences regarding future directions. If you were not able to attend the meeting and wish to submit a survey, please complete the form and send to Sandy Levin, 59 Longbow Rd (or email to Sandy at s.levin@sympatico.ca ).

Student housing in Orchard Park/Sherwood Forest

The ratepayers are continuing to compile a list of addresses where the homes are rented out and not occupied by the owners.   The list goes to the rental licensing area of city hall which will check to see if there is a license for this use.  While it is currently a legal use, there are limits. 

If you would like to have a location reviewed, you can either the city’s call Residential Rental Units Licensing enquiries at 519-930-3515, or you can contact Sandy Levin with the address and he will  submit the information.  At least 5% of the homes in the area are being used as rentals.