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Intensification presents challenges
Jul 06, 2007
City officials are finding themselves caught between a divided public and new provincial rules as they grapple with growth alternatives that don’t contribute to sprawl. A small example of the clash of viewpoints over intensification returns to planning committee next week after being put off at their last meeting.
At issue is a proposed mixed use development at the corner of Mohawk Road and Upper Ottawa that would house seven stores and 14 residential units in a new three-storey building. The addition of housing is a departure from most strip malls, as is the fact that the stores would front directly onto the sidewalk with parking at the rear.
Staff planner Greg Macdonald noted that this feature “provides a greater street presence which is preferred for both pedestrians and transit” and maximizes the distance from the single-family homes at the back of the corner lot.
“The proposal is also transit-supportive and contributes to a healthy transit operation by accommodating a range of travel destinations and trip purposes,” said Macdonald.
The site has been vacant for more than a decade. The other three corners of the intersection feature a gas station, a conventional strip mall, and a new Shoppers Drug Mart. Several multi-level apartment and condo towers are located nearby along Mohawk.
Some local residents, however, are bitterly opposed to the development. Marlene Vorkapic told planning committee it was “ludicrous to put that density of people and vehicles at an intersection that already has so much traffic and so many accidents”. She said others in the neighbourhood were “in complete disbelief” that the development was being contemplated.
“We all agree in the neighbourhood that the development is too large for the size of the lot,” she declared. “The commercial buildings on the other three corners of that intersection – they’ve got adequate clearance around their buildings so that you can drive in and around easily.”
Real Lessard, who lives on Mohawk next door to the proposed building, predicted “chaos” if the proposal is allowed, as well as unacceptable noise levels and problems with garbage that would make her home unliveable.
“The reason we bought that property was because it was secluded,” she told councillors. “We want privacy.”
The committee also received several letters of opposition and a petition of “over 40 names” submitted by ward councillor Tom Jackson who convinced the committee to postpone a decision to allow him more time to meet with residents.
“I wish so much and the neighbourhood wishes so much … that someone would come in and build some single-family homes there,” said Jackson. “This type of congested high-density development – which council frankly has supported for greater infill developments instead of urban sprawl – this is the kind of neighbourhood backlash and concern that we’re experiencing when this kind of development may not be done properly or is too dense for what the existing neighbourhood feels should be there.”
Provincial legislation has directed the city to ensure that at least 40 percent of new development is infill by 2015, and city planners view major arterial roads like Mohawk as the best location for such intensification.
Councillors committed to that strategy last year, but new rules to enforce it have not been drafted – something that is frustrating ward one councillor Brian McHattie who earlier in the meeting challenged staff support for a new single-family house on Rymal Road.
McHattie noted that Rymal has been identified as a key intensification area and a new transit route. He pointedly asked planning staff if they were really serious about these plans or if it was “just a good idea but something that is not going to happen, because we’re going to get low density all along Rymal Road”.
McHattie’s irritation increased when told that staff are still working on their plans to meeting provincial intensification targets.
“I’m just really at my wits end,” declared the councillor, demanding to know whether planning was being driven by developers or by city staff, and “whether we’re just here to rubber-stamp all the stuff that comes in.”
The recently appointed manager of economic development and planning, Tim McCabe, said he understood McHattie’s frustration, but that it will take until the spring of 2009 before staff can complete a new official plan.
“It’s unfortunate, but we’re in this kind of gap and we have been in it for too long,” he said, “and I kind of apologize on that behalf, but we have to move forward and give that official plan higher priority than we have in the past.”
The Rymal application was approved by committee with McHattie registering his opposition. The decision is back on committee’s agenda for Monday morning.
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