Thread by @adamadonaldson

Coming up at 6:30, coverage of this month's #Guelph council planning meeting. guelphpolitico.ca/2023/06/02/cit…

Mayor Guthrie has called the meeting to order.

From the closed session: Memorandum of Agreement between the City of Guelph and the Guelph Professional Firefighters Union Local.

Guthrie reports that council had a discussion, and gave staff direction. Statement: They supported the ratification on the City's end, and council is appreciative of the GPFA and City staff for working hard to reach an agreement that's long time in coming.

Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and General Nature Thereof? Cllr Chew declares conflict for Decision Report 1373-1389 Gordon Street OPA and ZBA File OZS22-001 since he lives in the area and took part in a working group about this development.

Consent agenda:

Downer/Allt move, and the vote passes unanimously.

Next, and last, Decision Report 1373-1389 Gordon Street OPA and ZBA File OZS22-001.

When this project came to council in March 2022 it was for a 9-storey mixed use apartment building with 98 units, well now it’s 99 units but the building height has been reduced 7-storeys including the mechanical penthouse. Staff is recommending that the project be approved.

There are three delegates on this matter starting with Hugh Handy, who is the planner representing the project. He explains that they had met with the community group previously mentioned, which led directly to some of the design changes.

Handy admits the oversight regarding sewage mentioned in a correspondence from Hugh Whiteley in the package. Whiteley is up next.

Cllr O'Rourke says this is a much nicer development and asks about assurances that the storm water capacity is sufficient, especially w/flooding on Loews. Handy says they've gone through detailed review of ground water and feel confident there won't be issues.

O'Rourke asks about reduction of parking spaces by 30. Handy says it was about balance and the overall development. The parking ratio allows 1 per unit, and the other 30 can be shared between visitors and use for the commercial units.

O'Rourke asks about office space on the top floor. Handy says it's still there.

Valerie Schmidt is also with the project, here to answer questions, but she has no delegation. We're moving straight to Hugh Whiteley.

Whiteley is essentially reading out his correspondence. pub-guelph.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ash…

Back to council for questions/comments. Guthrie asks for the motion to be put on the floor and it is done by Allt/Goller.

Allt asks for staff comment about capacity issues. GM of Planning Walkey says council approve new wastewater plan in April with the update flows, which is what the sanitary plans are being based on now (hence the typo), engineering is satisfied.

O'Rourke notes that parking mins were not reduced in Gordon Corridor, so why is the language still there. Staff note that amendment was for apartment-only buildings. This is a mixed use building.

O'Rourke asks about signalised intersection at Vaughan, is there chance for reconsideration? Staff says that's been a detail discussion among staff as they've reviewed this project, and they reviewed traffic last October and this intersection didn't meet standards.

O'Rourke asks if this is purpose built rental. Handy says it will be.

Groundbreaking? The plan is to start building by the end of the year depending on when the plans and drawings are done.

Cllr Busuttil asks about parkland dedication, and the detail design of the trailhead. Staff say that there's a future trail planned there leading to Preservation Park, the developer is going to allow public access thru their property to the trails connection.

O'Rourke comment: Everyone knows that the doesn't like its short 30 spaces, but the application has changed considerably to make for a better streetscape. She give kudos to the community for their influence. On balance, there's a lot of benefit.

Guthrie adds that he's grateful that Handy recognised staff and the neighbourhood. Good things happen with collaboration and this is a model of how to get to yes.

Recommendation passes unanimously.

Bylaws of the week pass unanimously.

DCAO Holmes offers comment about recent discussion on housing crisis. She says that there's been a lot of pressure on staff to try and answer the need, and even though housing doesn't only land with the City, she's not sure people know how much work is being done.

She's referring to this. It might be a couple of weeks before we get a final date, but they're looking at the options and what the City might be capable of doing. Stay tuned.
guelphtoday.com/local-news/may…

That's a wrap!

@threadreaderapp unroll please