Committee of Adjustment doesn’t take summers off, so here we are with the August committee meeting coming up, and it is a very staked agenda indeed. Nearly 10 different items ranging from a land severance, new commercial spaces, and all kinds of adjusted setbacks will require a decision from the board, as undoubtedly a few of these projects are looking to get going before the end of summer.
NOTE #1: This meeting will hybrid in format, available on the City of Guelph live stream, but you can also appear in-person at the council chambers in 1 Carden Street.
NOTE #2: If you would like to delegate on one of these matters, or submit a written comment, you have until Wednesday August 9 at noon to get in touch with committee staff at cofa [at] guelph.ca, or by calling 519-822-1260 extension 2524.
NOTE #3: The meeting begins at 4 pm.
A-47/23 561 York Road – So in this case, there’s a medical clinic and a pharmacy, and the zoning for this commercial area says that they have to be separate units. But this developer would like to have a combined pharmacy and clinic space, which means that these two businesses will have to be more connected than just being next door. Hence, this variance request for increased gross floor area.
A-48/23 2 Amsterdam Crescent – The homeowners here are looking to build a new sunroom at the rear of the house, which requires a minor variance to allow about two metres to be shaved off the rear yard setbacks.
A-49/23 10 Samuel Drive – This property is zoned as a Neighbourhood Shopping Centre, and if the 2023 Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw was in effect this would be no big thing, but since the old definition of an NC doesn’t allow for a “commercial school”, in this case a pilates studio, a minor variance is needed for the studio to proceed.
B-11/23 A-50/23 A-51/23 239 Kathleen Street – This is the one application that proposes a severance this month. The property owner would like to split this one property on Kathleen between St. Andrew and Division Street into two, the south side of which will retain the current house and garage with the new portion on the corner of Kathleen and St. Andrew.
A-52/23 16 Cityview Drive South – This application requests a minor variance to allow for a two-storey addition to the exiting house at the corner of Cityview and White Street. The variance requested is to shave off a little more than a metre on the rear setback.
A-53/23 277 Arthur Street North – The homeowners here are asking for a minor variance on the side yard next to a vacant property for a new attached garage. The bylaw says that the setback needs to be 1.5 metres, but with the garage that setback will only be one-metre.
A-54/23 842 Woolwich Street – Granite Homes is looking to establish a real estate sales office on the site of their redevelopment of the Guelph Curling Club property. The bylaw permits a “real estate sales office as an occasional use on a construction site until such construction is completed or a final building inspection is conducted, whichever events occurs first.”
A-55/23 11 Cork Street West – The developer here, which already got a variance for reduced parking last year, is looking for a couple of additional variances. Two of them concern parking, one variance for setbacks from the lot lines and another for setbacks from the windows and habitable rooms. The other variance will essentially allow the project to proceed, because the Downtown 1 (D.1) Zone allows for a variety of residential uses, except this one.
A-56/23 13 Kensington Street – This application requests a couple of variances for an expansion of a detached garage; the homeowner is asking for a reduced right-side setback of 0.3 metres, and an allowance for an increased ground floor area of 83 squares metres (typically 70 is the maximum).
Guelph Politico 