Update on Jamesville Redevelopment plan

The dispute over the Jamesville Social Townhomes in the north end of Hamilton likely won’t be resolved until this fall. The City of Hamilton and its partners face an appeal by CN Rail at the Ontario Land Tribunal.

Manuela Jorge, who lives across the street from the townhomes hopes to see shovels in the ground as soon as possible at the property with 91 subsidized homes.

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“It’s kind of putting the city down, I think it puts the north end at a low point,” Jorge said.

The proposed development for a new, 447 unit complex with plans to include more than 100 affordable units, stalled again.

Developers and the nearby railway company attended a private mediation on Thursday to settle a construction dispute.

CN Rail appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal over concerns that a potential conflict may arise with the developer because when trains come through near the development they say there’s dust, odour, vibration and noise.

During the tribunal meeting, discussions were pushed again to this summer and all parties will return to the table publicly on Sept. 8.

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CN Rail believes mitigation plans were not in place, but the Jamesville Redevelopment partnership and CityHousing Hamilton say they’re ready to build.

The empty housing complex was brought up during recent town hall meetings on handling encampments in the city, one that saw thousands of responses.

The City of Hamilton is hosting another town hall meeting Thursday evening. They are seeking feedback and questions on the proposed encampment protocol from city staff.