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Town plans win prize for design from region

Town of Pelham has won a Niagara Region design award for its planning of the East Fonthill commercial and housing development.
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Town of Pelham has won a Niagara Region design award for its planning of the East Fonthill commercial and housing development.
It received the 2014 Niagara Community Design Award in Urban Design and Architecture for the East Fonthill Secondary Plan and Urban Design Guidelines.
Pelham received top honours in the Policy & Plans Category.
The town’s planning documents outline its detailed policies and guidelines for growth and development in the East Fonthill area at Regional Road 20 along Rice Road to south of Merritt Road.
“It’s gratifying to receive this recognition on behalf of council, town staff, the region, and the consulting team led by the Planning Partnership,” said Mayor Dave Augustyn in a news release Monday.
“The development of the 450 acres in the East Fonthill area has the potential to improve and change Pelham for the better. This award recognizes our efforts to balance growth as we maintain our small town feel.”
Some of the goals of the East Fonthill Secondary Plan include:
  •  Ensuring a well-designed, attractive, pedestrian-friendly community with a mixture of housing types;
  •  encouraging significant retail/commercial development while at the same time protecting the existing Fonthill Downtown;
  •  providing a “Greenlands System” that protects existing environmental features and integrates with the Steve Bauer Trail system; and
  •  developing a pedestrian/cyclist-friendly and transit-ready road network.
As part of the secondary planning process, the town council approved the East Fonthill Site Master Plan for the northern part of the East Fonthill area.
This plan contains concept drawings for six distinct blocks.
They show various possible permitted land uses, including institutional-medical, retail, retirement, community centre, mixed-use commercial, townhomes, single-detached residential, mixed-use residential and parks and trails.
The Site Master Plan incorporates details about streetscapes that include roundabouts, trails, parks and public squares that complement the town’s urban design guidelines.
The Town of Pelham owns 32 acres of land in the East Fonthill area.
In that area, a medical centre, retirement facility and Wellspring Niagara headquarters will be built.
Town council, with the help of an architectural design advisory committee, is exploring the potential inclusion of a multi-faceted community centre, which would include an arena.
A hotel feasibility study is underway to determine whether a hotel would benefit to the community in the area.
For more information about East Fonthill, visit pelham.ca/east-fonthill.
The 2014 Niagara Community Design Award is Pelham’s second. The town received honours in 2013 for the Town of Pelham Downtown Arches in the in the Public Realm Improvement Category.