I live in Guelph in Ward 5. I am writing to express concern over the proposed 16- and 14-storey apartment buildings to be erected at the corner of Stone Road and Gordon Street and to indicate that I am not in favour of the towers.
I read about the proposal in the newspaper and telephoned Mayor Farbridge’s Office last week. I was kindly directed to Katie Nasswetter of the Planning Department, who sent me a copy of the proposal for the towers as well as the public meeting notice. I have spent some time reviewing them and wish to provide comment.
I have lived in Guelph for almost 20 years. I have taught at the University of Guelph and I currently work at McMaster University in Hamilton. I am familiar with university-community issues, including student housing and I support the goals of the University of Guelph and of the City of Guelph to foster harmonious relationships between residents and members of the UG community. I regularly read the UG Neighbourhood News flyers when they arrive in my mail as well as the UG alumni magazine. There are many students who live in my neighbourhood and I hope that I am not so old as to be unable to still relate to the student experience. I very much enjoy the student presence in my area. I quite often chat with my student neighbours when out cutting the lawn, shoveling the snow or walking the dog, and every Halloween we look forward to UG students on their food drive.
From both a student’s perspective and that of the City itself, I can appreciate the potential benefits of this proposed development. It would create an enormous amount of student rental units with very high density and minimal sprawl, and likely contribute significantly to property tax revenues of the City. University of Guelph students could live in immediate proximity to the University, with convenient access to all of the surrounding amenities. I like the aesthetics of the proposed towers and were shorter versions of the towers to be built on campus, for example, I would likely support them. But I think the proposed location and height of the towers are very problematic for several reasons. And allowing their construction would have negative and irreversible impact on the neighbourhood and the City as a whole.
My specific concerns about the proposed towers relate to four issues:
1) A regrettable new icon for Guelph. They are just too tall. Amending the existing City Bylaws and Zoning Restrictions would allow for the construction of two, very tall, apartment towers right at the busiest intersection in the city. The two towers would presumably become the two single tallest buildings in the entire south end of Guelph and would permanently change the landscape of the city. One of the things I have always enjoyed about living in Guelph is that the Church of Our Lady is visible from almost anywhere in the city.
Existing height restrictions in town have very deliberately controlled the aesthetic of the developed landscape. If these two towers were to be built, all residents, students, visitors and workers would immediately first see these towers when they enter the city from the south, and probably from all directions given that this area of town is so high in elevation. While the design of the buildings is beautiful, it would be a shame that these two massive towers would very quickly become one of the most visible icons within Guelph. Toronto has its CN Tower. Hamilton has the Cathedral of Christ the King, visible for kilometers, perched high atop the hill by the 403 / Main Street entrance to downtown. But to newcomers, Guelph might quickly be seen as having these two massive apartment towers as they drive up from the 401. I think that would be regrettable.
2) Unfair to existing residents. I don’t think it is fair to the residents of adjacent properties for these very tall towers to be constructed. While many of us here in Guelph, all too hastily reject development blindly, and we are often quite selfishly swayed by a classical nimby argument, I believe the construction of these towers would permanently and quite negatively impact the well-being of the people who live on the adjacent properties.
Perhaps my own home is located close enough to the proposed towers for me to fall into the nimby line of reasoning myself, but I can only imagine how utterly devastating it would be to have a 16-storey or 14-storey apartment building overlooking my home and robbing me and my family of our privacy and sense of security. While others might counter that these residents knew what they were getting into buying property right across from a large University in an ever expanding city, I believe that allowing these high rises would be patently unfair to the people who already live right there now.
3) Traffic and safety problems. Allowing these towers at that particular intersection would also likely create considerable traffic problems at the city’s already busiest intersection. In addition to the influx of hundreds of cars entering and exiting from two new driveways only yards from the busy intersection, we would also likely witness thousands of pedestrians crossing Gordon Street and Stone Road in all directions throughout the day. The many dining places in the Harvard Square Plaza would likely see tremendous increase in business but will these new pedestrians respect crosswalks or will many be tempted to simply walk out into the road to grab a bite to eat? Will UG employees safely be able to compete with the mass migration of student pedestrians every morning as they arrive at work?
And that’s just what would likely occur after construction. I cannot even begin to contemplate the sheer gridlock that would happen during actual construction, and for how many months? Or possibly even years? I note that the proposal contains two phases of construction. Are we to expect that the intersection will be restricted for months during the construction of phase one and then when the developer decides to move ahead with phase two that we will all have to live with construction all over again? This, after having already just experienced considerable construction delays in the general area as part of the ongoing infrastructure improvements all around town.
4) Student housing. As I indicated, I have some experience with universities. And I realize that student housing supply and integration into local neighbourhoods are ongoing issues in many places. But I wonder what these towers would actually add to the housing supply in town? Surely, given the proposed level of rent expected to be charged to students, these towers presumably would not add to the affordable housing market.
If an objective in your decision-making process here is to consider the creation of new student housing so that students currently living in the neighbourhoods around the University, amidst the noise and property standards complaints of their neighbours, might eventually move out of those areas and relocate into this one centralized area, then I think this is problematic. Concentrating this many students in one centralized location would seem to run contrary to proven Town and Gown principles of diverse student population integration into existing local neighbourhoods. The towers, while beautiful and luxurious by all accounts, might become little more than a high-rent ghetto and I believe this would set a very dangerous planning precedent.
My understanding also is that the University itself has indicated that there is little need for this sort of project on this sort of massive scale. What is needed is greater integration of students into all surrounding areas, and construction of more affordable student housing, not just one massive project at the closest intersection right beside the University. While I assume the developer has undertaken needs assessments and due diligence, I have to wonder what sort of actual need might currently exist for luxury student rental units that would justify the impact on the neighbourhood.
I do not wish my letter to come across as being anti-this or anti-that. I understand the need for our city to grow and to develop. I understand that change occurs and that it sometimes may impact us all in various positive and negative ways. And I understand that student housing is an on-going issue in Guelph and that all reasonable proposals should be considered.
I am not engaged with any group organized to oppose this project. I am writing as an individual with concerns for the well being of my family, my neighbourhood and my city. I do not believe allowing the construction of these massive towers is what is appropriate or reasonable for the neighbourhood and for the future of Guelph. And I respectfully ask that you not permit zoning and plan amendments to allow them to be built.
I can appreciate that this may be a difficult decision. There are many likely benefits to the towers, but I very strongly believe the negative impacts on all of us far out-weigh those benefits.
Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns and for hopefully considering them when making your decision. DC