Council to vote on zoning changes for project on Oct. 16
A report from city staff is recommending that a proposal to build a six-storey condo building on Gordon Street be given the green light.
In a report to be presented to council at its Oct. 16 planning meeting, city staff say a proposed zoning change would permit the proposed 86-unit building go ahead.
First heard by council in March 2018, Reid’s Heritage Homes is looking to build a new multi-residential building at Gordon’s intersection with Lowes Road West, with the building replacing five homes currently standing at the site.
Peter Kastner, who lives across the road from the proposed development and has organized local opposition to the project, told the Mercury Tribune Thursday that the staff report is not a shock.
“I’m disappointed, but I’m not surprised,” he said.
At the March 2018 council meeting and a meeting between the community and developers this past January, Kastner said the six-storey structure would not fit in with the neighbourhood, which is primarily two-storey structures.
Under the city’s official plan, which labels that area as an intensification corridor, it was identified that the land should be used for residential developments between two and six storeys.
The building’s size was brought up by councillors during the March 2018 meeting, with Coun. Bob Bell saying “the massing on Gordon Street is absolutely oppressive,” referring to the plans to have the six-storey building sit six metres, or under 20 feet, from the road.
Mayor Cam Guthrie also implored staff to not look at the project in isolation, but instead to look at how it would fit in with the Gordon corridor as a whole.
According to the staff report, Reid’s will be required to complete a noise study ahead of any site plan applications “that will address the building’s adjacency to Gordon Street and noise generated by other sources on the apartment building, such as rooftop equipment.”
The Oct. 16 council planning is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers at city hall.