I was at the Community Meeting last night, which addressed the property of 410 Clair Road East, and I just wanted to speak to a few matters.
First and foremost, I was appalled to hear from one of the councilors, that community members had been concerned about Sikh’s being a violent community. If you were to visit the City of Guelph Ward 2 blog (http://ward2guelph.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/410-clair-road-east/#comment-4951)
there are many derogatory comments from West Minster Woods community members. I am embarrassed by these comments and it is very sad to see people with these views. The worst part is, the people holding these prejudice views are misrepresenting others who do not want this building in their neighborhood. I can ensure you that my comments below have nothing to do with discriminating against the Sikh community, nor their religion.
To begin, one community member addressed the point that in the planning act, there requires signage to be on both Clair Road and Goodwin Drive. I am aware that the councilor addressed this issue and stated that the act says, that it is up to the planning department whether to post signage on the front and rear of the proposed property. I would like to comment that I feel that this was a poor judgment call not to post a sign on Goodwin Drive. Anyone in the neighborhood enters Westminster Woods from Gordon Street, Farley Cres., Beaver Meadow Drive or Tolton Drive – very few community members would have ever driven by the sign on Clair Road. I understand that you are only required to provide letters to residents living within 120 m. However, since this is such a large building, and I am assume you realized there would be a lot of public angst about this, I think you really should have posted a sign on Goodwin. As the community member stated, there were many people who just found out about this meeting and were unable to make it.
Secondly, I would like to address the issue of size. In Ms. Nasswetter’s presentation she discussed the size of the building. I understand that the footprint of this building is quite a bit smaller than the footprint of the original building zoned for this site. I don’t believe that square footage is the issue at hand here. First of all, everyone discussing the height of the building yesterday kept referring it to a 2.5 story building. However, one very important piece missing from this presentation was the size of the turrets. If one were to look closely at the proposed drawings of the temple, the largest turret measures 6.5m. Adding this extra height makes this building much taller than the original long-term care facility. This building would tower over any buildings in the community. I think if the total height of the building, including the turrets was 2.5 or 3 story this may not be such a big issue to many community members. Furthermore, during the meeting, one councilor said that there wasn’t any community concern when the two new large elementary schools were approved in this area. Having driven by these two sites today- they are both only 2 stories. So, I think it is unfair to compare these buildings to the temple.
Thirdly, as mentioned by one of the councilors (I believe it was Councilor Christine Billings of Ward 6), anyone who built a home in the Westminster community had to adhere to very strict design regulations. Prospective buyers are really not able to change any of the exterior of their house (i.e. we had a large issue trying to put in pot lights were they were not designed to be, another neighbor was not able to change the colour of his fascia because it didn’t go with the allotted colour scheme of his home – there are only 2 of many examples). The commercial plaza adjacent to Westminster located at the north/west corner of Gordon and Clair, also had to adhere to similar design requirements. If you were to look at any of these buildings (The Shopper’s Drug Mart, the TD bank etc.) their exterior design mimics very much so the design of the Westminster Community. I am confident in saying that I speak on behalf of many community members that we purchased homes in this neighborhood partially due to the exterior look of the homes. Westminster Woods is one of the nicest looking subdivisions I have seen in southern Ontario (and I am aware that physical appearance is completely an individual preference). My argument here is that people purchased these homes for the look of the community, and I do not feel that the proposed temple fits into this community’s master plan. The proposed building at the moment is to be white limestone with gold turrets- this does not resemble any buildings in this neighborhood- most are brick and stone.
To continue, one main concern I have is the rezoning. When I purchased this home, I purchased thinking that the area directly in front of my home was going to be residential. (I am aware that zoning can change at any time). I would not have purchased this home if I knew that that location was going to be re-zoned as institutional or commercial.
Another main concern is the parking/traffic issue. I know that this issue was addressed last night but I really think that council needs to really examine this issue. Clair Road and Victoria Road are not capable of taking on the traffic that will come with a temple this size (as mentioned, it can hold 400 people comfortably). For a building this size, there are not nearly enough spots to hold 400 people. The proposed walkway will just encourage members to park on Goodwin Drive, Baxter Drive, Ray Crescent and surrounding road and walk to the temple.
I ask you to really think about rezoning this land. Yes, I do agree, the current temple of Stevenson is not big enough at the moment. And yes, the Sikh community is long overdue to have their own place of worship. However, I strongly feel that 410 Clair Road is not the place. When making this decision, please do not think of only the needs of the city. Think of the community members who live directly around this area and ask yourself, is this large building something I would like to look at everyday? LS