Residents say total number of units could be in 670 range
The fate of the proposed development of the Chedoke brow lands will soon lie with Ontario Municipal Board officials.
A hearing into Deanlee Management’s plan to develop a large portion of the 25 acres of land along Sanatorium Road north of Scenic Drive was expected to wrap up today (Wednesday) after six days of presentations.
The Mississauga firm is battling with the city over the size and scope of development on the brow lands.
City council has approved no more than 450 condominium units on the site.
While Deanlee’s plan before the OMB calls for 529 units, Roy Wolker, a brow lands area resident and a party to the hearing, noted on Monday there is the potential for many more.
“The devil is in the details,” said Wolker, who claims city planning officials have indicated another 100 units could be built on the west Mountain site if they were designated as retirement units.
Wolker said Deanlee can also earn credits if it does not tear down the five or six heritage buildings on the property which could be worth another 30 or 40 units.
Altogether, he noted, the potential for development on the site is between 600 and 670 units, not far off the 700 units the developer originally proposed to the city.
The lawyer for Deanlee made his presentation in support of the development to the hearing last week.
The plan calls for two clusters of buildings.
Three six storey apartment buildings and one four storey building are targeted for the entrance to the brow lands on Sanatorium Road just north of Scenic Drive.
The other cluster includes 16 townhouse units along Scenic on the north-west side of the site; eight more townhouse units next to the former infirmary building near the Mountain brow and three four storey buildings are slated for the area behind the infirmary building.
Board officials heard the key part of Wolker’s presentation on Monday when he called Barry Colbert as a non-expert witness.
Colbert is an area resident and associate professor of policy and strategic management at the school of business and economics at Wilfrid Laurier University.
He is also a director of the CMA Centre for Business and Sustainability at Laurier and has been part of a local resident’s group opposed to Deanlee’s development plans since 2007.
“I think the brow lands is a good site for development,” said Colbert, who went on to argue in a thorough 75 minute Power Point presentation, that Deanlee’s plan is “far too intensive” for the community, adding it is out of character with the surrounding neighbourhood which features mostly single family homes.
He said the historical “therapeutic, park-like setting” of the area should temper any development plans.
Colbert said a mixed commercial-residential development of between 175 and 200 units “is most appropriate” for the brow lands.
“We’d like to see positive development on the site,” said Colbert, who told the hearing the residents are also opposed to the city’s decision to allow 450 units on the site.
He said he used the city’s residential intensification guide to map-out his development alternative.
James Bennett, a Thornhill planning consultant hired by the city, told the hearing on Monday that Deanlee’s proposal should be rejected.
“The density of the project is too high,” he said. “The building heights are too high.”
Other brow lands area residents spoke in opposition to the development plan last week.
Andrew Knowles, who was speaking on behalf of his grandmother and long-time brow lands area resident Shirley Fawcett, presented a 1,177 name petition opposed to the development.
Deanlee got some good news last week when the Niagara Escarpment Commission withdrew from the hearing.
NEC manager Ken Whitbread confirmed the organization signed off on the development plan after Deanlee agreed to a number of measures.
They include: at least 30 percent of the site will remain open space; buildings will be set back at least 30 metres from the Mountain brow and the measurement-staking must be approved by NEC staff; any buildings above four stories along Scenic Drive must be stepped back so they don’t look like large building blocks; buildings along Sanatorium Road will include a mix of townhouse clusters and high rise structures rather than just high rise buildings and a visual impact assessment will be provided prior to construction.
“Before it’s finalized, we have to approve the design,” said Whitbread, who added he believes that in signing off on the proposal, the NEC has achieved a balance between urban intensification and environmental protection.
A decision from the OMB is not anticipated for several months.