Councillor Brockington left the meeting during consideration of this item, and did not participate in the Committee's discussions or vote. He advised that he was doing so due to a potential conflict of interest. At City Council on September 27, 2023, Councillor Brockington confirmed that he did not have pecuniary interest under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act (see City Council Minutes 21 - September 27, 2023)
Lisa Stern, Planner III, Planning, Real Estate and Economic Development (PRED), presented an overview of the report recommendations and answered questions from the Committee. A copy of the slide presentation is filed with the Office of the City Clerk.
The Applicant/Owner as represented by Ross Farris, Windmill Developments and John Moser, Parkway House were present in support of the application and available to answer questions.
The following staff were also present and responded to questions:
PRED: Derrick Moodie, Director, Planning Services
Legal: Tim Marc, Senior Legal Counsel-Planning, Development & Real Estate
The Committee heard from the following delegations:
- Doug Cope expressed concerns with loss of privacy, increased traffic and safety issues, removal of green space, access for emergency vehicles and location to Mud Lake conservation area.
- John O’Connell outlined inconsistencies in the Official Plan and Secondary Plan that relate to this development, noting the proposal is not compliant with either. Concerns with proximity to LRT, density, and traffic.
- Ron Purver noted the staff report understates the neighbourhood opposition to this development, inaccurately reflecting the number of signatures on the petition and speakers at the public meeting. Community isn’t opposed to development, however the size of this proposal is unacceptable.
- Anthony Kaminskyj echoed comments from previous speakers relating to density and walking distance to the transit hub, as well as safety concerns during construction.
- Sarah Power spoke to concerns related to density, traffic and parking. Community isn’t opposed to development, but this proposal is out of scale for the neighborhood.
- Kathy Momtahan spoke to a slide presentation (held on file with the Office of the City Clerk) outlining concerns with the proposal noting incomplete information regarding community opposition provided through the report to Committee, does not confirm with the Official Plan or Secondary Plan and does not meet the criteria for walking distance to the LRT entrance.
- Bill Glass noted the area is already underserved to parking, street is not wide and believes that a low-rise development would suit this space and accommodate the parkway better.
- Peter Caskey noted if the proposal is approved it would be precedent setting and damaging to the zoning. Also raised concerns with the removal of parkland and open space.
- James McLaren, President of the Board, Parkway House spoke in support of the application and outlined reasons this development would be positive for Parkway House and it’s residents.
Members received the following written submissions, held on file with the City Clerk:
- Email dated September 11, 2023 from Dave Tod
- Email dated September 13, 2023 from Neil Charbonneau
- Email dated September 13, 2023 from Janice Yemensky
- Email dated September 18, 2023 from Doug Cope
- Email dated September 18, 2023 from John O’Connell
- Email dated September 18, 2023 from Ron Purver
- Email dated September 20, 2023 from Diana Nelson
Following discussions and questions of staff, the Committee carried the report recommendations as presented.