Council Recap: In the Heights
New downtown projects wants to go as big as 14 storeys.
In this Thursday edition of the Guelph Politico Tip Sheet, we go in-depth with the debates and decisions about this week’s city council meeting or meetings. Your regularly scheduled Tip Sheet will be in your inbox first thing Friday morning!
Planning Meeting of Council – September 10, 2024.
After making the old hotel at the east end of Carden Street a heritage property and approving the new Habitat for Humanity project on Speedvale Avenue, council started digging into the main course of the meeting, which was a proposed 14-storey mixed use tower in the spot of a presently vacant building next to 10C Shared Space across from city hall.
The plan is for 120 residential apartment units with a mix of types, plus 595 square metres of commercial space. Although some of the diagrams in the package used the phrase “student housing”, SkyDev president Gregory Jones said that any and all renters will be able to live in this building. This last part was important to his business, as Jones explained, because he has a lot of young professionals working for him with no affordable place in Guelph that would let them move here instead of commuting. The goal with the project is to help make downtown more livable and more vibrant.
But the most controversial part of the development is that it will have no parking. None. Bill 185, the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, allows developments on land located within a major transit station area to proceed without the provision of off-street parking. Jones and his consultant noted that this will allow construction to be streamlined since they don’t have to go underground to create parking, and they will more or less be able to use the present footprint of the building. Also, parking is the most expensive part of any residential development, which will make these units cheaper.
As for that commercial space, there are no firm plans yet. Jones said that they want to attract “base retail”, meaning something like a grocery store or a pharmacy, but the space can be configured for one big retailer or a bunch of smaller ones. Jones did add that they were looking for commercial tenants who want to stick around for the long haul.
When the other delegates came to the podium, they had a variety of different issues even if they were generally in favour of the proposal. There were concerns about the abandonment of the Downtown Secondary Plan by allowing all 14-storeys of this project, there was some concern that construction on upper Wyndham and this building might end up happening at the same time, and there was still other concerns about accessibility to this building for people with mobility issues given the fact that there’s no parking.
Some of the most pointed criticism came from 10C, who are concerned about being in the shadow of this new building, and the potential impact on their own growth plans, which might include a couple of extra stories and a community space on the roof. Suzanne Swarton of the 10C board and 10C executive director Julia Grady both asked for some assurances that the construction of this building won’t create problems with their roof or their rain harvesting down the road.
Council followed up with staff about many of these concerns, and the answers to these questions will likely come forward as planning staff review the application. There was also some commentary about how this proposal is getting a little bit ahead of the City’s skis with a height review presently underway; after the Ontario government rescinded changes to the Official Plan that allowed 23 storeys, planning staff moved forward with the study and the draft won’t come back to council till year’s end. There’s also the matter of the Downtown Heritage Conservation District Study, which likely won’t be completed before next summer.
Mayor Cam Guthrie, who was appearing virtually, rose to the defense of the developer saying that he was “uncomfortable” with any inference that Skyline did not have the best interest of Downtown Guelph in mind with this project. Councillor Cathy Downer, who chaired the meeting, got the last word saying that council had to mindful about this no parking thing because if the developer isn’t building it, the City might have to later.
Council voted unanimously to approve receipt of the application.
Next, council heard a presentation about some administrative amendments to the Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw for properties in the east and south ends that have recently had decisions about them rendered by the Ontario Land Tribunal or are presently before the OLT waiting for a decision. There were no questions from council and no delegations from the public, so the changes were approved rather quickly.
There was one last vote, and it was the bylaws that come at the end of every meeting. This time though, it was a laundry list of new bylaws and one of them was the final approval of the Public Space Use Bylaw. Council approved bylaws 1 through 21 unanimously, but someone asked in advanced to separate the one that approves the controversial bylaw, which was the 22nd and last bylaw on the list. Councillors Phil Allt, Linda Busuttil and Erin Caton voted against approving the bylaw, like they did a few weeks ago, but the other eight council members at the meeting voted in favour of it. (Michele Richardson and Dominique O’Rourke sent their regrets.)
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
The next meet of city council is another Committee of the Whole on Tuesday September 17 at 4 pm. You can see the Politico preview here, and you have until tomorrow at 10 am to register with the clerks office as a delegate or to send a correspondence.
For more information on Guelph City Council meetings, from agendas to live-tweets to recaps, you can visit that page on Guelph Politico here.
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