This monstrosity of a building will not be the final product of a planning application by Dez Developments. Everybody in the system knows this and even the Developer knows that there is not a hope in hell that this building will get built in the form of the application submitted. Just remember folks this is a ‘blue-sky’ application designed to get a compromise!

I congratulate everybody in this process for expressing opinions and hope that the Mayor and Council are listening to the outcry – this meeting will over-run the Council chambers. However I have heard that a move to the Concert Hall, which has not been booked for this time will not be used because of the difficulty of broadcasting a Zoom meeting from that space. What a pathetic excuse – you can use an iphone to catch the action and even if you had to set up a live setup surely that is part of the job of the greatly expanded Communications Department that the Mayor so strenuously defends as “my team” backed by a budget that grows every year.

But that is not the reason I will not be there. There are plenty of people and organisations, who will make the points that I would have made far more eloquently than me. Letters will be submitted, but probably never read aloud, Citizens speaking passionately about their home town and professionally presented slide-shows to look at;  all making the point that this is a horrible building in the wrong place of Town. I will present my opinions in the correct arena – the Zoning Bylaw Review

There are many reasons that this application should be refused – outright – no compromise.

• The maximum allowable height for this land is 3 storeys – THEY WANT NINE!
• Less than half of the required Commercial component of the regulation is in the proposal
• Any new finished building in the Main Central (MC) zone must be Sympathetic to the surrounding neighbourhood
• The provisions of the Zoning Bylaw have been stretched beyond belief

Also the problem of the parking must be understood. This land, leased by the Town for the last few decades has been used for parking all 139 spaces. This use will not work for the owner and we should recognise that. That leads to another problem the Town has been waffling about for the past few years – Parking.

However because of the lack of proper zoning regulations developers have been able to build what they want with respect to a peculiar regulation within the Zoning Bylaw.

There are two flaws in the present Zoning Bylaw (ZBL), as we see it.

1. 1. One is that under the “Mixed Residential” classification one can build a building of any size with a minimum of 530m² of commercial space – just over 5.000^{sq ft}. This building proposes only 227^m2 (just a little less than 50% of required space) and then they will add 196 residential units to it. If they do that
   2. then the parking regulations for the mixed building are relaxed.
      • A residential building  with 196 units would need 25 extra spaces for the visitors to the building requiring 221 spaces
        • In this case because the building is mixed residential (which reduces the requirement to 1 space per unit, in the Main Commercial Zone the parking rules are even more generous – 50% of  1 space for each unit – 98 spaces
      • Unfortunately the developer would sell very few units if 50% of them did not have parking! 

 

To sum up this developer is not in compliance with the existing ZBL:

• The minimum space required for the commercial component is deficient by more than 50%
• The building is 6 storeys too high
• The building does not fit in the neighbourhood
• The application does fit the spirit  of the Zoning Bylaw 

What I would if I was on Council

• Enact an interim Control Bylaw to freeze development in the Downtown area until the Zoning Bylaw, which is currently being reviewed, is finished
• Place regulations in the revised Zoning Bylaw that reflect residential development in the Downtown. After all there is no appetite or demand for more commercial development in the Downtown.
• Review the Parking study again, it may be technically correct but not believed by those people fighting over spaces in the Covert St lot and on King St.

So there you are folks go to the meeting and express yourselves you have my admiration