HAGERSVILLE—A proposed eight-storey, 94-unit apartment building on Main Street in Hagersville drew an overflow crowd, repeated interruptions, and strong opposition from neighbours Monday night as residents raised concerns over traffic, parking, privacy, fire safety, and access.
The Public Information Meeting was held April 27, 2026 at the Hagersville Library.
It consisted of a review of the development application for a proposed apartment building on a vacant parcel off Main Street, near MacNeil Court.
Planner Bradon Flewelling presented on behalf of the developers, along with representatives from the development group and Matt Brouwer of Paradigm Transportation Solutions, who completed the traffic impact study. County planning staff Noor Hermiz and Shannon Van Dalen also attended as observers.
Flewelling opened the meeting by stressing that no decisions were being made that night.
“No decisions or anything are being made tonight,” he said. “This is just for information. We want to hear your feedback.”
The meeting had previously been rescheduled twice, from March 30 to April 13 and then April 27.
The room was filled beyond capacity, with some attendees standing and others left in the hallway.
As the crowd pressed for answers early in the presentation, Flewelling acknowledged the turnout had been underestimated.
“We followed the mailed notice, which was provided by the county, which is actually twice the radius that needs to be circulated in terms of the Planning Act,” Flewelling said. “We underestimated – apologies on that.”
He explained the proposal is for a rental building with outdoor amenities intended to create a “sense of place” for residents, including outdoor seating areas, barbecues, and other gathering spaces. He said the site currently has R4 zoning, which permits townhouse forms of development, and the application seeks to rezone it to R6 to allow an apartment building.
“What somebody could build today without going through a zone change process would be townhouses,” he said, adding the applicant estimates the site could yield about 64 townhouse units under existing zoning, subject to technical requirements.
Much of the opposition focused on the proposed access route through an existing easement near the neighbouring condominium and townhouse development. Flewelling said the easement is registered on title and provides access to the parcel.
That explanation did not satisfy several residents, who said they believed the access was tied to previous uses and raised questions about ownership, maintenance, snow clearing, and safety for children living in the area.
One resident asked whether there was another possible access, saying there are “so many little kids” in the nearby development who ride bikes and play around the area’s roads.
Flewelling said the site is a separate parcel and that the access arrangement reflects how the land was originally set up for development. He said the applicant is willing to look at various design measures, including landscaping, fencing, or separation between parking areas to reduce conflicts between the proposed building and neighbouring residents.
“We’re not trying to encourage people to drive through the existing parking,” he said.
Traffic was the dominant concern throughout the meeting, with residents repeatedly challenging the traffic study and saying it already takes too long to turn left from side streets onto Main Street.
One resident said it can take “10 to 15 minutes” to turn left, while another said residents on McNeil have waited as long as 17 minutes.
Brouwer said the traffic impact study was completed in November 2025, using counts taken in June and September 2025. He said the study looked at morning, midday, and afternoon periods, including 7 to 10 a.m., noon to 2 p.m., and 3 to 6 p.m.
“(This is) what we do in traffic impact studies for any development that is done in the province – this is a requirement of any municipality approval agency,” Brouwer said.
He said the study began with existing traffic counts and projected future growth, including the estimated traffic from the development.
“We include any sort of future growth,” Brouwer said. “We projected out to 2030, so at the time it was a five-year horizon.”
The study used a 2% annual growth rate to account for other development and background traffic increases.
Residents questioned whether the count periods reflected real conditions, particularly summer traffic heading toward Port Dover and heavy truck traffic through Hagersville.
Brouwer said the study was scoped with the County and that the purpose was to measure the development’s impact using standard traffic engineering methods. He said the study did not find that a traffic signal was warranted at the access point, though he acknowledged left turns are difficult.
“Left turns are always harder. I don’t disagree,” he said.
He said one warranted improvement identified through the study was a southbound left-turn lane on Main Street into the site.
He stressed the study has not been approved and remains under review.
“Don’t take our word for it,” Brouwer said. “It’s being reviewed.”
Parking was another major concern. Residents questioned whether 129 spaces would be enough for a building of more than 90 units and raised concern that tenants or visitors would spill over into existing, nearby condominium visitor spaces.
Flewelling said the parking being proposed meets zoning requirements and that tenants would be told where they are permitted to park. He said the design could be adjusted to close off connections between parking areas where possible.
Privacy concerns were also raised by nearby residents, who said the height and orientation of the proposed building would overlook their homes and yards. One resident compared the proposal to the Jackson apartment building nearby, saying those balconies do not look directly into townhouse windows, while this proposal would.
Flewelling said the building had been pushed farther back into the site to create more separation.
“The site design went through a lot of iterations to get to this one,” he said.
Residents also raised questions about fire safety for upper floors, stormwater management, outdoor amenity supervision, noise from proposed pickleball courts, and whether the proposed fire pit would comply with local open-air burning rules. Flewelling said services for the proposed building would be separate from the condominium development and that stormwater and servicing plans are under review by the County.
The application is still in the early stages. Flewelling said supporting materials submitted to the County include a servicing study, geotechnical report, planning justification report, hydrogeological study, traffic impact study, urban design brief, archaeological study, land use impact assessment, land use compatibility report, and site plan drawings.
The next scheduled step is a public meeting to be held with Haldimand County Council on June 16. Residents will be able to make delegations to share concerns, objections, or suggestions before Council. County staff clarified that no decision is expected that night from Council.
Flewelling closed by saying the applicant would take the feedback from this meeting into consideration and make the team available for smaller discussions.
“We get it. It’s a change,” he said. “This is something that you’re living firsthand, and it will be a change to the environment in which you live.”
