Ontario Builds - Not

Jeff Green | Jun 19, 2025

Ontario Builds - Not

There are two large construction projects pending in the middle of Verona, but you wouldn't know it by visiting the hamlet today. At the two sites in question, the former McMullen Manor site, and a property on Verona Street, a block away to the east, where the township is planning to build a mixed housing complex, there have been no excavators, no cement mixers, no construction workers, no steel, no lumber. There are just weeds and grass at those sites.

You wouldn't know that all levels of government are working hard to address the housing shortage in Ontario byb looking at those sites today.

McMullen Manor burned to the ground on January 8, 2021, just over 4 1/2 years ago. The local community, led by the Free Methodist Church, which is located steps away from the residents of the building, most of whom have now moved away. The site was cleaned up, and prepared for a rebuild. The owner of the property, and the former 28 single unit social housing complex, is Kingston Frontenac Housing Corporation (KFHC), which is owned by the City of Kingston. Shortly after the fire, KFHC announced that they were planning to rebuild on the same site.

Since then, nothing has happened.

KFHC will only say that they remain in a dispute with their insurer over the payout on the fire claim, and no building can happen at the site until the claim is settled. There has been no timeline announced for that settlement, never mind for work on the construction project itself. When contacted this week, David Kelly, Executive Operations Administrtor at KFHC responded with a one line email, “regarding your email inquiry about McMullen Manor, we have no additional news at this time.”

As if to underline how things can progress if there are no undue delays and a willing builder, Topper's Convenience Store and Gas Bar on Main Street in Verona, burnt to the ground just over two years ago, on June 7, 2023.

If you drive by that spot today, you will see a new, identical sized building at that location, including a small apartment building and gas tanks, as if the fire never happened. The new Toppers opened about 15 months after the last embers of the fire were extinguished.

In July of 2020, South Frontenac Township purchased two parcels of land in Verona. The goal was to buy the land and work with developers to create a mix of housing types to appeal to a wide demographic, including seniors.

Even though this was taking place during the on again, off again, COVID period, the township wasted little time. Early in 2021, the township commissioned a Verona Master Plan, the first step in determining what the site could handle without creating any risk to neighbouring property owners or the watershed.

The first version of that plan came to Council a year later, and after public information sessions and more work, the final version was presented in November of 2023. A crucial water and wastewater capacity study was then completed one year ago, almost to the day, on June 27, 2024.

The study came to the conclusion that the site  is capable of both providing  well water and a septic system to handle wastewater for a population of 209 people in 58 dwelling units. Both the water supply and the wastewater will require treatment. The study included a list of  studies that will need to be completed in order to proceed with the project; hydro-geological studies to ensure an adequate water supplies, and a number of environmental assessments.

The township is fully aware of what is required because they have an entire planning department with expertise in planning and building requirements at their disposal

Still, with all of this information at hand, according to Mayor Vandewal, the required environmental assessments could take up to another 3-5 years to complete. That could make for a ten year gap between purchasing the property and beginning to build a housing complex in a community with a chronic shortage of affordable places to live.

The Province of Ontario has made housing a priority, as we all know, yet these two projects, for different reasons, are being left to so long that an entire generation of individuals and families in need are being left to struggle in a housing and rental market that is saturated and over-priced.

A couple of weeks ago Bill 17 was passed in the Ontario legislature. It gives the province more leeway to approve housing projects, over possible objections by local municipalities. It also has provisions that appear to have the potential to weaken environmental protections. What the legislation does not do is provide what is really needed; clear, strong requirements to protect not only neighbours but the entire watershed from the risks that come with permitting development of any kind, but a simple, straightforward process to evaluate those risks, adjust building plans accordingly, and approve the projects.

And the bodies involved, be they the Ministry of the Environment or Conservation Authorities, need the resources and mandates to cut timelines down to size without compromising safety. Politicians at all levels want things to happen, yet nothing does.

Meanwhile, Verona is not getting the boost it needs and more people, not less, are under housed in Frontenac County with each passing year.