City staff are recommending that a townhouse development on Victoria Road North be given the go ahead.
In a report to be presented at July 9’s planning meeting for city council, staff are recommending the approval of zoning changes and amendments for a proposed development at 671 Victoria Rd. N.
The application being recommended for approval is the third proposal for the property, and would consist of 31 cluster townhouse units, as well as a small commercial plaza.
There are also some zoning amendments being recommended for approval, such as smaller minimum front yard setbacks (4.5 metres from the standard six).
This was a big change from the first proposal, which came to council in May 2016. In that case, the developer had sought zoning amendments in order to build three commercial buildings — two at six storeys and the third at just one — and 124 apartment units, along with parking spaces above and under ground for nearly 350 vehicles.
Among the concerns raised at the May 2016 meeting were about the shadows the new buildings would cast, as well as issues of privacy.
“We all have to be open to change,” Coun. James Gordon said at meeting, adding the proposed development was “pretty radical compared with what they (the neighbours) were expecting.”
By February 2017, the project had been downsized. At a neighbourhood meeting and open house at the time, a plan for 64 stacked townhouses, each sitting four storeys tall, and a commercial plaza were presented.
While this was a step in the right direction for the neighbourhood, many felt the townhouses were still too tall.
“The neighbourhood was more receptive to this plan, but still expressed concern about height because the stacked townhouses were four storeys high, backing onto standard two storey townhouses that are at a lower elevation on Mussen Street,” the report to council reads.
The recent proposal now being recommended for approval came to council chambers for a public meeting in April.
At the time, Katie Nasswetter, the city’s senior development planner for this application, said the changes were made in response to the February 2017 meeting with the development’s neighbours.
“When they met with the neighbourhood last year … they were still concerned because the stacked (townhouses) would be at a higher elevation than the townhouses that are currently on Mussen Street,” she told the Mercury Tribune in March.
The report recommending the approval of zoning changes and amendments for 671 Victoria Rd. N. comes before council at its July 9 meeting. That meeting is scheduled to get underway in council chambers at city hall at 6:30 p.m.