The long awaited redevelopment of a prime piece of land in Point Edward could become a step closer to reality on Wednesday.
The village is hosting a public meeting to consider a proposed Official Plan Amendment for the former Holmes Foundry property, at the corner of Exmouth Street and Christina Street North.
That would reclassify the 16-acre space from "Special Tourist Commercial" to a special "Mixed Use" designation.
CAO Jim Burns said a range of commercial and residential uses would be allowed in mid-rise and high-rise buildings. It would also pave the way for warehousing and self-storage uses on the site.
"The official plan is kind of an overarching document that sets policy in what can be developed on the site," said Burns. "In the future, there will be a rezoning application to get into more specific guidelines on what can happen on the property."
Burns looks forward to seeing some movement on the property after 30-plus years.
"It'll be nice to get the property back into active production and being a useful piece of property to not just Point Edward, but the entire community," he said. "It could help us meet some housing needs that are in the area. It's a gateway to the country and we want to get it more appealing to the eye."
Burns is hoping to see some visible action on the site in the next couple of years.
"There's been environmental work going on there for two or three years, and that work continues," said Burns. "It has to be completed before anything gets started, in terms of construction. The Official Plan Amendment hopefully gets passed as early as Wednesday night. Depending on the feedback from the community, it might get pushed back just a little bit. Hopefully we can get it approved shortly, and just follow through the process."
South Coast Developments held an open house in November 2024 to share its plans for residential, commercial, and park space.
At that time, there were some concerns raised by citizens including pollution levels, traffic and site servicing. Those issues are still being looked into by South Coast.
The company purchased the land for $5.75 million in 2022, and later retained a London-based consulting firm, Zelinka Priamo Ltd., as the land-use planners.
Chrysler closed the former manufacturing site in 1988 and spent $7 million cleaning the area.
Wednesday's meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Point Edward Community Hall at 210 Monk St.
An open house will be held at 6 p.m., where members of the public can view details of the amendment and speak to the developer about the proposed plans.