WHEREAS the Ward Councillor’s comments were inadvertently omitted from the report on this item;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the “Comments by the Ward Councillor” section of the report be replaced with the following text:
The location of this development on the corner of Brian Coburn and Tenth Line Road raises serious concerns relative to traffic volume. While traffic impacts are a Site Plan Control issue, I would like to comment on the broader policy and planning considerations underlying those concerns.
First, I want to commend the applicant for retaining the commercial component of the mixed-use zone. In the current housing market and given the devastating impact of the pandemic and online retail on local businesses, there is a trend towards turning mixed-use zones into residential developments. Mixed-use zones are meant to foster, dense, walkable communities. The City has limited tools to encourage commercial development and we rely on applicants and businesses to pursue the City’s vision for walkable neighborhoods. Efforts by the development industry to protect commercial areas in mixed-use zones should be noted. The inclusion of a linear park to provide a buffer to existing residential is also appreciated.
This development, with its proximity to existing transit, schools, and groceries may appeal to people who wish to be less dependent on their car. But with 380 parking spaces we can hardly argue that this walkable development will get people out of cars. In South Orléans we still need to build car-centric communities because the location of the planned arterial road and Bus Rapid Transit corridor meant to serve the area is not supported by the NCC. So far, the City’s approach has been to wait for a change of heart at the NCC, while South Orléans residents face long commutes, limited transit, and truncated active transportation links.
We continue to approve development and collect Development Charges to fund this crucial transportation project with no clear execution plan. The argument that we cannot stop development because we need the development charges to fund road construction does not apply in the case of South Orléans: development charges may be collected but the money has nowhere to go. We need to limit development to match the existing capacity of the road network since increasing capacity is not feasible.