I am unable to be at the Council meeting on Monday evening, but I have some thoughts I would like to share with you regarding two of the development applications that are on your plate.
You should not feel any need to deal with them equally. Approving one should not force you to approve another. Each should be considered on its own merits.
The condominium development proposed for the corner of Woolwich and Macdonell seems a good fit to me. Any objections to it do not relate to its location so much as its size. There is a lot of community apprehension about these types of buildings somehow altering, or even destroying, the character of our downtown. No doubt they’ll change it. The task is to make sure it is a change we can live with not just next year, but ten and twenty years on. If this development is approved, as I think it will be, you should make sure there are conditions that can be enforced during the site approval stages. I don’t know if it should be 18 floors or 12. There will be tall buildings on the Woods site. Perhaps it would make sense for them to be at 18 and shorter ones closer to the centre of town, coming down to 12 on Macdonell. It seems to me this project should be given conditional approval. The conditions don’t need to be onerous, but they should protect the character of our downtown as much as possible while acknowledging that it is going to change. Your job in this instance is to protect what we have while allowing for growth and evolution.
The condominium proposal for Gordon Street beside Marianne’s Park is another matter entirely. It is too big, and it infringes on the buffer that should exist along the river bank. Yes, we should have residences on the site, but not this many. There are too many zoning by-law amendments needed, and this alone should be a signal that it is not the right fit. There is also the issue of the symbolism involved in pushing off to the side a park dedicated to those who have suffered abuse and have always been shuffled off to the edge of awareness. Symbolism need not be a determining factor, but it is important and does deserve consideration. When put together with all the other good reasons to question the appropriateness of this development, it should help tip the balance. A residential development on this site with fewer homes would be a major asset to the city. What is being proposed is not.
We all know you should not say yes to every development plan submitted, and neither should you say no to all of them. There are good reasons to say yes to Macdonell and Woolwich. There are good reasons to say no to 180 Gordon. I urge you to decide accordingly on both matters.
Good luck with your deliberations. AP