Development Committee New Year’s “round up” (Jan 2022)

 

The inaugural meeting of the 2022 MHBPNA Development Committee was held on January 6th at 7 pm via Zoom and included a review of some of the issues we have addressed throughout 2021.

1. Ted Parkinson and Kate Pearce, the reps from the MHBPNA, are leaving the Committee.   New Members from the MHBPNA executive are Jorg Broschek and Linda Vandenakker.  Other members include Catherine Owens (Chair), Gordon Hatt, Scott Morris, Tom Hillier, Nik Schmidt, Mark Sisson and Sarah Marsh (ad hoc member).
2. We have been meeting with City Planning Staff following the our submission outlining various neighbourhood issues including demo practices, building permit practices, RIENS, C of A amongst other issues.  The good news is that we are starting to see some increased attention by the City on a significant number of properties on our tracking list.    A few things of note
   1. Demolition permits – the houses at 91 Louisa and 50 Breithaupt have now been demolished.
   2. Unkempt vacant lots/demolished buildings.  A building permit for the vacant lot at King/Wellington was issued in early December.  The City is also reviewing the vacant site at Weber/Louisa (neighbours think its unsafe).
   3. We have again raised the issue of the boarded up McDonald’s building on King/Moore – Perimeter, who owns the Google site, has also approached the City about the site.
3. King/Pine – 25 storey apartment build across from the hospital.   A public meeting was held in October and the application for re-zoning will go to the City for approval on Monday, January 10^th.
4. Shannondale has approval from the City to begin the remediation of the Electrohome site in January/February.  Remediation will entail removing all the trees and shoring up the perimeter of the site to ensure there is no impact to neighbouring properties when the soil is removed.
5. Sacred Heart School.   Sarah Marsh is in discussions with the Polish Congress re future plans.  The intention is to retain the convent building and the historic portions of the school.  Plans are still under development and timing is still under discussion.
6. Google Build – build is well underway.   Future plans are to include an additional building on the current parking lot.
7. Station Park.  The first two buildings are well underway.   Three additional buildings are planned.
8. Transit Hub
   1. The pedestrian passageways under Duke and Waterloo Streets are a go.  Building is expected to commence in late 2022 at which time Duke will be closed to traffic.
   2. Metrolinx has completed its traffic study of the surrounding area.  They have submitted the review to the City. Scott Morris has obtained a copy of the Metrolinx report and will report on it separately.
   3. Sarah Marsh, Scott, Gordon Hatt and Catherine have met with the City Traffic department a number of times to outline neighbourhood concerns re traffic not only due to the Transit Hub but the general increase in traffic due to development – Wellington St. is of particular concern.   Scott will update you separately.
9. RIENS (Residential Intensification in Established Neighbourhoods). We have  been discussing our concerns with the City re the need to protect “stable neighbourhoods” and the need to raise the profile of RIENS neighbourhoods with the Committee of Adjustment (C of A) and the Building Department etc.  Residential Intensification in Existing Neighbourhoods (RIENS) outlines the specific guidelines for infill/builds/additions in our neighbourhood.
10. Committee of Adjustment.   We have made a number of recommendations to the City re the composition of the committee and its mandate.   In the meantime Mark Sisson continues to attend C of A meetings and update you monthly.
11. Cash in lieu of Parkland.   Tom Hillier is managing this on our behalf.  The City’s initiative known as Places and Spaces will be looking at the City’s current practices and evaluating how and where green space is allocated throughout the City.  Tom is encouraging everyone to complete the City’s survey www.engagewr.ca/placesandspaces or to appear before Council when the recommendations are presented for approval.
12. The City Staff’s recommendations on the “Tree Canopy” project will be presented to the Planning and Strategic Initiatives Committee on Monday, January 10th
13. Additional Dwelling Units.   Our process improvement suggestions including the need to notify neighbours beyond the current 30 metre radius were included in our memo to the City
14. Nik Schmidt continues to diligently update our geomapping tool which maps all development in the neighbourhood.   Due to the increased number of large builds immediately adjacent to Mt. Hope/Breithaupt he has expanded the map to include these
15. Other properties we are tracking

                                                       i.      306 St. Leger – infill

                                                             ii.      102 Waterloo – demolition and infill

                                                           iii.      81 Shanley – demolition and infill

                                        If you have any questions re the role of the Development Committee or any of the info above, feel free to email catherine_owens@sympatico.ca.