This month’s planning meeting had a lot stuff going on, but only a couple of items were explored in detail. Yes, more heritage matters were approved, but the real news was in two different development projects; the first was a new project being developed by Habitat for Humanity in the north end, and the other was a final decision on a big project in the south end. Let’s get into the recap…

Planning Meeting of City Council – July 9

The initial business of three heritage designations and a heritage permit to move the Hanlon farmhouse at 331 Clair West was handled fairly quickly, so this meeting was all about one new application and the approval of one old application.

The new item was at 303-317 Speedvale Avenue East and the proposed construction of a six-storey residential apartment building with a total of 48 units, a new effort by Habitat for Humanity Guelph Wellington. There are 14 different amendments requested including more density, fewer parking restrictions, and some reduced setbacks. In other words, it’s a big new building on a site where there’s currently one single-detached home and a commercial building.

The size of the new building was what concerned the one scheduled delegate for this proposal. Sarah Reynolds worried about the reduced site lines, the parking spillover and the greater odds of flooding in an area that’s already seeing a lot of flooding from some apparently shotty road repair work 15 years ago.

Ryan Deska, Director of Community Engagement and Development for Habitat, was in the audience and talked about the positive aspects of the project, how it will have a meaningful impact on the housing crisis and how they’re working with the Task Force for Poverty Elimination to maximize those benefits. It was explained that Guelph is running out of big space and greenfields so residents have to start embracing infill, for which this site is ideal because there are three schools within 400 metres of this site plus access to numerous amenities and transit.

There were some assurances that work on the property will address the flooding concerns on Metcalfe Street, specifically planned improvements to the retaining wall. In terms of whether these will be technically affordable or more literally affordable there seemed to be some confusion about that, but Deska said that it was Habitat’s intention to seek out any available discounts or savings to make the project viable. Although there’s no final decision about this being rentals or condos, Deska added that the aim is to have the average price of a three-bedroom unit to be around $350,000.

Council voted unanimously to receive the application and it’s expected to come back for a final decision in September.

Next was the Decision Report for 1166-1204 Gordon Street. It was about this time last year that council received this proposal for 2 six-storey apartment buildings with a total of 134 units and 22 three-storey on-street townhouse units at this property between Gordon and Landsdown. Between then and now the developer shaved off a dozen apartments and two town houses from the project, so staff were recommending that council approve this amended version of the development.

A group of area residents had concerns about increased traffic on Landsdown, jaywalking on Gordon Street, the overall limits of the road layout in the area, and the need for lights and a pedestrian crossing in this area of Gordon. Council had some of the same concerns about the traffic situation and sought some information about when the proposed connection between Landsdown and Edinburgh might get constructed (the answer to that depends on an OLT appeal for a development in the area).

There was also some skepticism about there not being any impact on traffic along Gordon because of this development, and some questions about how it might be determined if further traffic control, and perhaps a pedestrian crossing, is needed. City engineer Terry Gayman said staff could use some formal direction from council if it’s desired to pursue some options, so an additional motion was approved to study the warrants to see if a pedestrian crosswalk is justified in the vicinity of Landsdown by the end of the year.

As for the development itself, it was noted that this version was an improvement over what was originally brought to council, although Councillor Leanne Caron had some concerns about the lack of any real attempts to make the building environmentally sustainable. Mayor Cam Guthrie praised the residents for raising their concerns in a respectful and responsible way. The project was approved, but there’s no firm date as to when the project might get started.

Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.

The next meet of city council is a special meeting on Tuesday July 16 at 4 pm. You can see the agenda for this meeting on the City’s website here.