Split between three housing developments, the planning committee of city council approved rezoning applications for 301 housing units during its Sept. 14 meeting.

The lion’s share of these units are in Val Therese, tucked southwest of the Kenneth Drive/Municipal Road 80 intersection, where 247 residential units are expected to be built.

An eight-unit residential building at 1986 Margaret St. in Minnow Lake was cleared via rezoning, and the next two phases of the Parkview Drive subdivision in Azilda is slated to include 46 units.

“It’s encouraging to see this many developments moving forward in the city,” meeting chair and Ward 10 Coun. Fern Cormier told Sudbury.com after the lengthy meeting, packed with seven public hearings, wrapped up. “It’s a path we’ve been on for a little while now.”

Major projects such as the one in Val Therese moving forward are “indicative of the direction that council has been moving over the past several years,” he said. “It’s no secret the amount of work and energy that council has directed staff to put into the development of housing across the spectrum.”

City council capped 2024 by adopting a Housing Supply Strategy, which was both pre-empted and followed by various steps aimed at spurring the creation of more housing in Greater Sudbury. These have included tax incentives, residential development charge freezes, shoring up land for affordable housing and freeing up land for development by adding required infrastructure, among other efforts such as what Cormier described as eliminating red tape and speeding up approvals which came out of the Future-Ready Development Services Committee.