While it may not be the largest development that has come before council, a proposed four-storey, six-unit apartment building on College Avenue West is too much for some neighbours.
At a public meeting for the proposal on Monday evening, councillors received numerous letters from nearby residents, saying that such a development would be too much for the area, which already has two multistorey apartment buildings to the north and a neighbourhood of townhouses to the south.
“The lot is too small to have 6 residential units,” wrote Darlene Scott in her letter to councillors.
“The height of the building (four storeys) will negatively impact a substantial number of residents by blocking natural light to their units.”
“I have no issue with the land being used for property, it’s currently got a house on it that is in a poor state and replacing it is a great idea, even a multi occupancy unit is fine with me too,” wrote Greg Horne is his letter.
“My objection is really the size of the proposal and that this will have a negative impact on my property that I was not expecting when I bought the home.”
One resident argued that adding another building to an area already home to many university students would have a negative effect on the area.
“I feel if it goes ahead, it’s going to create more crime, more density as there’s townhouses already around it, and there’s been problems in the past with some of the university students in there that have wild parties,” said Lloyd Barrell in council chambers.
“If it goes ahead, I think it’s going to cause more problems for the police.”
Astrid Clos, a consultant for the property owner, told councillors earlier in the evening that the plan is not to market the building for rental by university students.
As for the issue of the shadow the building would cast, Miklos Csonti, the building’s architect, showed the results of a shadow study which appeared to show such a structure would not cause significant issues when it comes to a loss of sunlight.
Clos also addressed the issue of trees that would need to be cut down for this development. In the initial application’s tree inventory and preservation plan, it was determined that 38 trees — primarily eastern white cedars — would need to be cut down.
“We want to make sure that every opportunity to retain trees has been identified, so we’re having another look at the grading, we’re looking at the existing trees and that report will be revised and resubmitted,” she said.