By Mark Newman

http://www.hamiltonmountainnews.com/news/article/142924

Sep 12, 2008

West Mountain residents who were hoping for no development on the Chedoke brow lands are going to be disappointed.

City planning staff, currently reviewing a revised plan by Deanlee Management to build upwards of 600 high end condominium units on the site, will be recommending some sort of development on the brow lands to the economic development and planning committee in the fall.

“We’re not suggesting no development at all,” said Brenda Khes, a senior project manager with the city. “What we’re trying to figure out is how much.”

Ms. Khes noted the lands are designated as urban and the Mississauga developer has provided justification for development to proceed.

City planning officials received the revised submission in late August and Ms. Khes said it will be circulated around to the various commenting agencies such as the Niagara Escarpment Commission for review.

In a Jan. 7 report the NEC raised concerns that Deanlee might be planning to build too many tall buildings too close to the Mountain brow.

Ron Starr, president of development at Deanlee, said concerns expressed by the NEC and other groups have been addressed in the updated submission.

“We’ve done what we feel is the best job possible to address the issues,” Mr. Starr said. “We’ve made changes, there’s a lot more green space.”

Mr. Starr said previously that Deanlee has backed away from its previous proposal to build 750 units and is looking at fewer but larger units.

City planning staff will consider Deanlee’s submission, comments from local groups and agencies and the secondary planning process for the area that was conducted last fall with input from Chedoke area residents before making a recommendation to the councillors, Ms. Khes said. They will also ready an official plan amendment and zoning bylaw amendment for the committee.

During the secondary planning process, Chedoke area residents voted for limited development (25 single detached homes) on the lands on either side of Sanatorium Road, north of Scenic Road. The residents were told by city officials that zero development was not an option because it would likely be overturned by the Ontario Municipal Board.

The secondary planning process was undertaken by the residents in a bid to control the size and scope of future development on the brow lands.

Since planning staff have to review the revised submission and then circulate it for comments, Ms. Khes doesn’t expect the issue to go before the councillors until November at the earliest.

Mr. Starr is not pleased with the November timeline, noting that will make it a year and a half since the project was originally proposed. The developer was was hoping to see their proposal brought before the committee this month.

Deanlee purchased the 9.6 hectare (24 acre) brow lands from the Chedoke Health Corporation in the spring of 2007, with the sale slated to close in December. The developer is also looking to close Sanatorium Road north of Scenic and make it a private condo road.

Under the revamped proposal, Deanlee is looking to build an eight to 10 storey condominium building and a couple of six to eight storey buildings at the centre of the property. The four to six storey condo buildings proposed for the northwest side of the property and on either side of Sanatorium Road just north of Scenic are retained from the earlier proposal.

Mary Ellen Kaye
The Hamilton Spectator
Brantford
(Oct 25, 2007)

Re: ‘Keep it scenic, Mountain residents tell condominium developer’ (Oct. 22)

We have the same issue in Brantford. Beautifully treed lots are being converted to apartment complexes right along the Grand River. The developer promises to put gardens on top of the buildings to convince people that green space is not being lost. Gardens on top of a highrise do not compensate for trees on the ground. Must we go up in an airplane to enjoy the landscape?

Gardens on top of a building are what we do when we are already stuck with the building. Open green spaces in an urban setting should be maintained for the good of the community. City councils in Ontario need to stop issuing building permits recklessly. It appears they are oblivious to the fact that eliminating more treed, open spaces will only work to further deteriorate the already poor air quality. Trees work against pollution. Why eliminate them? Reforestation should be on every city council’s agenda.

There is not enough money in the bank to justify removing yet more treed, open spaces within a city. Like Hamilton, Brantford has many developed lots that are places of vacant businesses, old storefronts, bellied-up bingo parlours and stores that have relocated elsewhere in the city. These lands haven’t been used for many years. Why not redevelop those spaces first? A large asphalted parking lot is the perfect place for these wall-to-wall cement development ideas.

My advice: Don’t negotiate for fewer floors on the condominiums. Once you say yes to a building, no matter how many floors it has, you have lost your forest. You will have lost your scenic route. The city should tell them to build elsewhere.

One of the few remaining open spaces on the west Mountain with a scenic view of the lower city is slated for development, upsetting neighbours who don’t want to lose the view or the peacefulness of the area.

The residents are trying to preserve as much as they can with a campaign to keep Scenic Drive scenic, by working on alternatives to 750 condominium homes, some in highrises, planned for the old Chedoke hospital site.

Ward Councillor Terry Whitehead calls the Chedoke brow lands the last bastion of green space on the Mountain and likens its high heritage value to that of the city’s beachfront.

“A lot of people want to protect Scenic Drive,” he says.

The size of the development on the 9.6-hectare property will add at least 1,500 people, assuming two per household, to the already congested rush-hour traffic on the west Mountain, residents say. The site is an expansive property with a handful of heritage buildings and large open green spaces and trees. Hamilton Health Sciences, which took over the Chedoke site, is selling it to developer Deanlee Management Inc. of Mississauga. The deal is expected to close in December 2008.

Following the initial residents’ outcry, Deanlee reduced its original plans for 900 units to 750 and reduced its 12- to 14-storey highrises to eight storeys. The proposal is for three-storey and four-storey townhouses, four- to six-, and now eight-storey condominium buildings. The units are selling for about $300,000 each.

The area’s current dwellings are mostly single family homes.

The city, at Whitehead’s request, has started a secondary planning process so the residents can present alternatives to the development — one that avoids highrises, reduces the number of homes and preserves mature trees.

“I think 200 is reasonable,” says resident Barry Colbert, who lives beside the site. “It’s the last good-size piece of land left on the brow,” he says.

Colbert says the traffic generated otherwise will overburden area streets. Traffic near the Queen Street hill down to the lower city is already paralyzed whenever there’s a minor accident.

It is an example of the difficulty in balancing a community’s character with provincial policies steering development to already urbanized areas.

The residents will present their alternative plan at a public meeting Nov. 13.

TheSpec.com – Local – Keep it scenic, Mountain residents tell condominium developer

The location of the 24 hour assessment was Scenic Drive and Angela Street. This location is more or less across the street from the Chedoke Browland scheduled to be developed. Keep in mind that this assessment has been taken during summer months, when many people whom use Scenic are on vacation, etc and while many students with cars, are not racing back and forth to schools, colleges and universities.

During this period, there were 4,499 vehicles that went by. I have attached the following 2 pdf files: 1. The “Traffic Volume Information” and 2. The “Vehicle Classification” information.

For those of you that do not live in the area, it may be hard to comprehend the traffic chaos we currently experience on the west mountain (even worse during the regular school year). The west mountain cannot accommodate density intensification (especially the downbound and upbound mountain access traffic).

To add to Scenic’s intensification, rumour has it that Columbia College is proposing to build an additional dorm on their current site. This again will cause additional traffic concerns in the area (ie. students needing to get bused – down the mountain – to Columbia College campus).

Scenic Drive/West Mountain residents have recently been exposed to the following increased traffic, density infill/intensification:

1. The new Residential area in and around Chedoke hospital.

2. St. Peters Hospital

3. There is rumour that there will be more residential infill in the area by St. Peters

4. Chedoke Arena

and then add

5. In addition to another dorm for Columbia College students.

and

6. Proposed development of the Chedoke Browland site.

When will it end? The proposed Chedoke Brow Land development is just another nail in the coffin.

While I respect the opinions of those that are in favour of the development, I wonder how many of them actually travel in this area during peak periods. If they do, I certainly hope that they are not the individuals using Scenic Drive as their own personal Nascar racetrack. I do not mean to offend individuals, but West Mountain residents have rights too.

Please take the time to look at the attached pdf files for your information. You will probably be surprised.

1. traffic-assessment-results-dated-july-11-2007.pdf

2. vehicle-classification.pdf