Council to consider deferral of zone change application
GUELPH, ON, Friday, July 11, 2008 – On July 21, 2008, Guelph City Council will consider a report with a recommendation from the Chief Administrative Officer to defer the application by 6 & 7 Developments Limited until September 15 in order to allow time for staff to respond to concerns raised with respect to the proposed development.
A motion to approve the application was defeated at a July 7 meeting with a majority of members of Council voting contrary. Due to the lateness of the meeting, and the fact that a second application with public delegations was still to be heard, further consideration by Council on the requests for deferral did not occur. Since Monday night, the City has received considerable community feedback, that the defeat of the approval motion had not actually brought closure to the matter, and did not allow an opportunity for staff to work with the applicant and the community to see if the concerns raised at the meeting could be addressed.
”A deferral of the application would be a consistent approach used by the City in the past to work with the community and a developer to try to resolve issues relating to a complex development proposal, and would accomplish a number of things,” said Mayor Karen Farbridge. “It would respond to numerous deferral requests from the public in order to allow them time to consider this large development proposal, time for City staff to review the concerns expressed by Council and the public, an opportunity for the applicant to respond to many of these concerns and potentially avoid a long and costly OMB process for all involved.”
The proposed recommendation will call for a deferral over the summer, and a special public meeting to be held on September 15, at which time delegations can be heard by Council on how the numerous matters of concern can be addressed.