We, as residents of Dimson Avenue, Guelph, are sending this letter to express our concern and frank opposition to the proposed redevelopment in its current form, as outlined by GSP Group on behalf of Abode Varsity Living, of the existing site at 716 Gordon Street (Gordon and Stone), in Guelph.
The The Proposed Official Plan Amendment and Zoning Bylaw Amendment (File OP 1001/ZC 1010) Ward 5 do not seem to have seriously addressed the following issues in a meaningful and positive fashion, and will actually create problems as outlined herein:
1. Traffic congestion is already enormously overwhelming from the intersection of Gordon and Stone, through the University campus. This effect is even worse during morning and late afternoon rush hours. Exacerbation of transportation congestion (e.g. buses, students and other pedestrians, many of whom jaywalk through this intersection even during rush hour traffic) will be worsened with huge negative impact with 341 additional cars accessing/leaving the site onto what is already a very busy and wide intersection, making safe pedestrian crossing a challenge for 1500 students per day each way as well as for current residents. Parking will overflow onto adjacent streets with homes. Invariably, we shall soon be under pressure to amend parking bylaws to allow 24 hour sidestreet access for guest vehicles. Regardless of that aspect, illegal parking will skyrocket, with all its attendant secondary traffic congestion problems. Has anyone sought feedback from the adjacent commercial businesses whose parking will inevitably be used illegally?
2. Many mature, healthy trees on the site will necessarily have to sacrificed, with no compensatory planting along the street. How does the City of Guelph and Mayor, with its self-avowed promotion of environmental stewardship, purport to rationalise its green credentials in light of such a project? The developers may talk about their concern for environmental sustainability but we, the citizens of Guelph, are not fooled.
3. The gargantuan scale of the redevelopment is totally out of proportion to the neighbourhood’s architecture, which consists of detached residential homes (zoned R1A ) and low-rise office and commercial buildings built to conform to the pleasing urban landscape. Shadow patterns will impact properties on both Evergreen Street and Mayfield Avenue. Noise from rooftop heating and airconditioning units will be disturbing. City Council will remember similar debates regarding the heights and frontage/setbacks for the St Joseph’s Hospital redevelopment – a process that went through studies for the better part of 20 years! It is to be hoped that lessons have been learned that will be used constructively here.
4. The high density residential impact (1500 students!) is inconsistent with the spirit of the Province of Ontario’s Infill strategy as it will not blend with the area, but create an imposing monster that will quickly produce a student ghetto. The University of Guelph has publicly stated that it sees no need for additional student housing in the city. Therefore, what motivation really drives such a proposed redevelopment as this one? The objections our neighbourhood residents propose extend far beyond the usual dismissable (by others) cry of “not in my back yard”. This development can rightfully be viewed as a white elephant with no justifiable long-term basis.
5. Policing,which will be the sole responsibility of the City of Guelph, will see an increase in calls and put a strain on present manpower, especially on weekend evenings and nights, as there will no longer be oversight by independent small landlords – rather, one large overlord in the form of the University residence, which will provide no meaningful resident/crowd control at all. There are already enough, well-justified complaints from the police service having to deal with rowdy revellers in downtown Guelph on weekends. This proposed redevelopment will go a long way to ensuring the establishment of a new nucleus of miscreant behaviour. It will only take a minority of less-well-behaved student residents and their guests (invited or otherwise).
6. The City of Guelph has historically done an excellent job in managing off-campus student student housing throughout different neighbourhoods, in line with existing and expanding bus routes. There is no need to shift the approach to a sudden concentration camp.
In summary, this development proposal needs reworking from its current form. We are not anti-student and do sincerely recognise a need for student housing. In fact, we would suggest that most students would prefer not to live in a huge anonymous “projects” style complex a la 1960s such as this. We have lived with the presence of student residences and students for the past several decades and therefore strongly urge City Council to turn down this proposal completely, with a recommendation, if Council should see fit, of a vastly scaled-down project with an absolute maximum height of 4 stories and set back from adjacent roads and properties as would be consistent with existing bylaws, with preservation of all trees bordering the Evergreen Street homes.PL