This was originally sent to Mayor Farbridge.
I wrote to you several months ago on this subject, and expressed my concerns about the proposed development. Please understand that I do not oppose residential densification in the downtown and surrounding areas. Neither will this development impact upon the view from my own house. My concern is with the erection of very tall buildings that will irreversibly change the appearance of our city. High-rise buildings, once constructed, cannot be torn down if the result is unpleasing.
The proposed development at the former cooperative daycare site will presumably be used as a precedent for the Marsh Tire and W.C. Woods sites. This makes it imperative to get this first one right. An 18 storey building is almost twice the height of the Park Mall apartments and the Cooperators office building. I think that you will agree that neither of these buildings has a positive impact aesthetically on the downtown streetscape. Yet this proposal is for something twice the height. We should remember, I think, that Guelph is not Toronto, and we would not (I hope) wish it to become like Toronto in terms of building heights. I point to the redevelopment of the site on lower Cardigan Street (opposite the Guelph Youth Music Centre) as an example of a well done and appropriate residential development that is pleasing to the eye and which retains the “human scale” that has up to now characterized Guelph. Major European cities such as Stockholm, Paris, and Madrid achieve high population density with buildings 5-6 storeys high, as do the late 19th century “brownstone” type developments in the inner suburban areas of US cities such as Boston, New York, and Chicago. These should be, in my opinion, our models for densification in Guelph.
Some time ago, RD sent me a copy of some streetscapes that he had produced digitally, and sent to Council, to show the effect of an 18 storey building on the Wellington/Macdonnell site. I hope that they will be part of your deliberations tonight.
Finally, I have to say that precedent in the development of tall buildings in Guelph gives me no reason for optimism about this proposed development. As you make your decisions, please bring to your minds’ eyes (a) the Park Mall (b) the Cooperators (c) the high rise apartments on upper Cardigan Street. These are the architectural quality that has characterized past high-rise developments in our city. A development of twice the height and equal ugliness will irreparably damage the appearance of our downtown. NB