Council seeks affordable units for Crystal Beach apartment
July 22, 2026 at 4:20 AM
Including a sunset clause wasn’t enough to get a proposed apartment building on Derby Road approved. Yet.
Councillors approved an amendment to the staff recommendation to include a five-year sunset clause, but continued to have misgivings of the plan itself, which they said goes against the recently approved secondary plan for the area that received plenty of community input.
“If we’re not defending the neighbourhood plan then I would question why we bother doing them to begin with,” said Councillor Tom Lewis, who put forward the amendment to include the sunset clause but still had problems with the project.
Councillors once again deferred a decision to give staff more time to nail down affordable housing commitments for the building.
“This is a bit of a mixed bag because it does check a number of boxes if the applicant is prepared to move forward with having some of these units be either attainable or affordable. It is a type of housing that’s needed in the community and certainly in the west end as well,” Lewis said.
“The part I’m struggling with is, this neighbourhood already has a number of apartment buildings that have been approved either in this term of council or previous terms of council.”
Located at 19 Derby Road, the proposal calls for a three-storey, 30-unit apartment building on the property. The Crystal Beach Secondary Plan, which is only two years old, doesn’t permit apartment buildings on the property.
The applicants made adjustments to the plans in response to concerns raised by councillors and the public that led to a previous deferral back in April.
“The revised site plan includes access to the underground parking area via a parking ramp from Derby Road, three additional above-ground parking spaces, the removal of a two-bedroom unit and the addition of a one-bedroom unit, as well as a 1.5 metre road widening along Derby Road,” the staff report said.
Ongoing questions about planned affordable and attainable units were part of the issue that kept councillors from approving the plan on Monday. Proponents have previously indicated to the town a plan to include affordable units, though planner Myles Banfield said they don’t have a firm commitment on how many.
Councillors ultimately passed another deferral in order to get more information.
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About The Author
Luke Edwards
Luke Edwards is a longtime Niagara community journalist who has covered a variety of beats, including business, agriculture, the wine industry and politics. When not writing, there's a good chance he can be found at a baseball diamond or curling rink.
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