New 256-bed long-term care home approved in Seaforth

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
After a brief, yet important special meeting on Tuesday night, Huron East Council approved a pair of planning motions, paving the way for a new, two-storey, 256-bed long-term care home to be built in Seaforth.

 

Planner Jenn Burns made the presentation, proposing a zoning amendment and a consent application to move the project forward. It will located on the east side of Duke Street near the hospital on lands that had been owned by the Seaforth Hospital Trust. Omni Quality Living has severed five acres for the home, with the remaining three acres of the parcel of land remaining zoned for Future Development and still owned by the Trust.

 

Burns noted that while a site plan has yet to be finalized, it is close, and the property will be subject to site plan control before moving forward. Aside from that, she said that the applications before council all complied with the Huron East and Huron County Official Plans, as well as the Provincial Policy Statement.

 

Aside from approving what was before them, councillors didn’t have much to say, aside from Councillor Bob Fisher, who thanked the company for investing in Seaforth and bringing much-needed long-term care back to the town.

 

Raheem Hirji, President and CEO of Omni Quality Living, said he was just as excited as Fisher was and that the home would not only address a need in the community in terms of long-term care, but in bringing careers to the community as well.

 

He said that, with the planning approvals in place, the process can begin almost immediately, but that the process from putting shovels in the ground to welcoming the home’s first resident is about two years and that he looks forward to that grand opening ceremony.