Plan for 3,800 units means big change for Cherryhill area of Oxford Street

As it stands now, Westfield Drive in London's Cherryhill neighbourhood comes to a dead end at a chain-link fence and gate.

The gate is usually found open, nearby residents say, and those who walk beyond it will find themselves going through a portal from a residential street lined with apartment buildings on one side into a vast, open green space large enough to comfortably fit a few soccer fields on the other.

That green space is set to change as the Esam Group, a company with a long history of developing the Cherryhill Mall and surrounding area, plans to add 3,800 units of housing in a staged series of developments that will include apartment buildings, stacked townhouses and low-rises apartments. The largest of the buildings will be 18 storeys.

Plans to develop the area located north of Oxford Street, west of Cherryhilll Boulevard and east of Proudfoot Lane, have been in the works since the early 1990s. The area is almost 80 acres in size. The green space had been prone to flooding but recent work by the city to improve drainage downstream through the Mud Creek restoration project, along with London's high demand for housing, has put the development back on the table. 

It's on the agenda for Tuesday's planning committee. 

Housing units badly needed, councillor says

Coun. Steve Lehman, who chairs the planning committee, admits it will be a big change for the area but said the housing units it stands to deliver are badly needed. 

"This space is sitting empty and it's a big example of infill at a time when the housing needs in London are dire," said Lehman. 

The Ward 8 councillor's main concern is the added traffic it will generate. Oxford Street West sees about 47,000 vehicle trips day, according to the city planning report. 

The developer's plan includes three new access roads into the new development, including an extension of Westfield Drive from the east. The plan also calls for Beaverbrook Avenue to be extended north of Oxford before bending west to connect with Proudfoot lane. 

"It's going to have an impact on the area when it comes to traffic," said Lehman. "This will bring a change, but I think it will be a positive change."  

Resident worries about wildlife

That potential change is worrying for Carla Kuijpers. 

The 72-year-old has lived on Cherryhil Circle for 10 years. She's concerned that extending Westfield Drive will create cut-through traffic as drivers look for shortcuts to get from Wonderland Road in the West to Platt's Lane on the east side of Cherryhill.

"Our village is very quiet, we don't have a lot of traffic," said Kuijpers. "There's a lot of seniors here and a lot of them have mobility issues."

Kuijpers, who has written to council to oppose the development, is also worried about a potential loss of wildlife.

"Where are the deer going to go?" she said. "There is a richness in wildlife and that is going to disappear. They're going to have to move." 

While admitting the development will bring a change, Lehman points out that the development is planned to come in multiple stages spread out in blocks that aren't scheduled to be fully built out into the 2030s.

"I just want folks to know that they're not going to wake up tomorrow and see 4,000 people living there," said Lehman. 

Lehman also said the push to add more development to Cherryhill, along with growth around the Oxford and Wonderland intersection, could revive the discussion about the need for higher-level transit in the area.

Lehman was among the councillors who voted against the western leg of the Bus Rapid Transit system back in 2019. He said he wasn't convinced at the time that adding BRT would be enough to entice people out of their cars. 

He said he'd consider other proposals for higher-level transit for Oxford West, if he can be convinced that it will be effective. 

Any future transit plans that come through I'm going to have the same question: 'How is this going to reduce car traffic?'" he said. 

The Esam group's planning application is on the agenda for Tuesay's planning committee meeting.