Statutory Public Meeting Report regarding a proposed Zoning By-law Amendment application submitted by Zelinka Priamo Ltd., on behalf of the owner… be received

2:48:19density of 250 units per hectare and buildings up to 14 stories the lands are his own site specific

2:48:29commercial mixed use center with the parking adjustment and holding provisions as well as

2:48:33natural heritage system under zoning by a lot 2023 to 20790 which is under site specific appeal by

2:48:41the owner a portion of the land's along Watson Road north is shown within a flood plain overlay

2:48:50the proposed mixed use development is comprised of approximately 1129 dwelling units inclusive of

2:48:56a range of housing types approximately 2818 square meters of commercial gross floor area is proposed

2:49:04at grade fronting along Watson Parkway north four residential buildings ranging in height from nine

2:49:11to 14 stories are proposed atop two building podiums fronting directly along Watson Parkway north

2:49:19internal to the site approximately 31 on street townhouses and 170 back to back townhouse dwellings

2:49:28are proposed approximately one hectare of lands is proposed to be conveyed to the city comprised of

2:49:34about 0.7 hectares for the public park and 0.3 3 hectares for conservation purposes starwood drive

2:49:45is proposed to be extended at the intersection of from with Watson Parkway north to create the main

2:49:51access two additional accesses are proposed along Watson Parkway north including a loading only access

2:49:58one access from Watson Road north is proposed adjacent to the park the internal road network

2:50:04is proposed to be privately owned and maintained a combination of underground surface and mezzanine

2:50:10parking levels are proposed each back to back an on street townhouse is provided with a minimum

2:50:17one driveway parking space and one garage parking space an indoor and outdoor bicycle

2:50:21parking are provided or proposed for all uses in addition to the outdoor amenity spaces in public

2:50:27park a new connection to the municipal trail network along the perimeter of the park and natural

2:50:33heritage system is proposed and some conceptual renderings were prepared here we can see a view

2:50:40from Watson Parkway north towards buildings a towards buildings a and b including the proposed

2:50:45commercial space along the ground floor here we can see a view from starwood drive between

2:50:52buildings b and c a gateway into the proposed development along the central private road

2:50:58aligned with the extension of starwood here we can see a view from starwood between buildings b and

2:51:06c oh sorry here we can see a view from Watson Parkway north towards building c and d including

2:51:12the proposed commercial space again on the ground floor here we have a view of buildings c and d

2:51:20where the two-story deck parking can be seen here we can see a view of the proposed back to

2:51:29back townhomes located along a private road the proposed zoning bylaw amendment seeks to modify

2:51:40the provisions of the cmuc 9 pa zone as adopted by council on April 18th 2023 which is under appeal

2:51:47as it pertains to the lands the zoning bylaw amendment would expand the range of permitted

2:51:52housing forms determine appropriate specific regulations implement the boundary of the natural

2:51:58heritage system zone the public park as neighborhood park refine the floodplain overlay and remove the

2:52:03holding provisions there are the requested site specific regulations for the entirety of the

2:52:08lands the mixed-use buildings as well as the on-street townhomes and back-to-back townhouses

2:52:12that were previously outlined by staff and detailed in the staff report as well as the materials that

2:52:17were submitted in support of the application the site specific regulations are to be confirmed

2:52:22and refined through the review of the application by staff the proposed development results in a

2:52:30range of community benefits for example there is the proposed park of approximately 0.7 hectares

2:52:36which will be supplemented with cash and lieu of parkland approximately 0.3 hectares of natural

2:52:41heritage system lands will be conveyed to the city a preliminary trail design has been provided

2:52:46for connection from Watson road north to Watson parkway north with direct access to the proposed

2:52:52park commercial space is proposed which would accommodate use as permitted under the CMUC zone

2:52:58which could include a grocery store daycare drugstore etc the proposed development will lead to the

2:53:05signalization of the existing intersection at starwood drive in Watson parkway north the zoning

2:53:13bylaw amendment application is supported by materials prepared by the consulting team which is

2:53:19currently under review by city staff and the agencies following the pre-consultation meeting

2:53:28in may 2022 and the acquisition of the lands in september 2022 a neighborhood meeting was held

2:53:35in june 2023 to introduce the project and receive public feedback a pre-submission was made in

2:53:43november 2023 followed by a formal application in october 2024 and the owner anticipates the

2:53:49submission of a site plan approval at the earliest opportunity this year in our submission the

2:53:57lands are well suited for the proposed mixed use development and the proposed zoning bylaw amendment

2:54:02is consistent and conforms to the applicable provincial and municipal land use planning

2:54:07policies and represents good plant land use planning and we're certainly available to answer

2:54:12any questions and thank you very much great and thank you very much for your presentation on

2:54:20behalf of the applicant we appreciate you being here okay maybe just stay there just in case there

2:54:27is any questions and okay uh doesn't surprise me uh counselor uh Gibson I saw your hand go up why

2:54:35don't I go I stick with ward one I go Gibson then katin and then uh uh coran and uh orork

2:54:43okay and then if any anyone on the screen that's here on behalf of the applicant or anyone in the

2:54:48room feels like you need to also uh have a chance to answer something if you need to

2:54:53feel free to come up and and join your colleague here counselor Gibson over to you thank you and

2:54:58through you mr mayor thank you very much for the presentation I uh I'll just be there first

2:55:04to have child care conflict but um that's what makes virtual so so great um series of questions for

2:55:13you uh just from the production control can you expand on justification for studies completed today

2:55:28counselor Gibson we're really sorry but your connection is is not working um well you're

2:55:35cutting up as you try to explain your question there can you try one more time for us just get

2:55:43right to the question so that we can maybe hopefully hear it so I'll turn it over to you

2:55:51yeah just yeah sure give that a try uh the the reduction in the

2:56:01studies can you just expand on that a little bit I think he asked can you expand on the commercial

2:56:10um study and the reduction in the commercial like square footage allotment I believe that's

2:56:19what he asked oh I see a thumbs up okay I did that justice who would like to answer that you

2:56:25certainly I can answer that so that the amount of commercial from the when that we came forward

2:56:29at the neighborhood meeting is more than doubled about doubled um and the commercial that we

2:56:33submitted a commercial function study uh and that was peer reviewed by the by the city's peer

2:56:38reviewer uh the amount of commercial in the node would exceed the minimum threshold for the area

2:56:44for the center so in terms of the the component that would be provided by this project it's it

2:56:49exceeds the the target that's in the official plan um so there's no there's no reduction proposed

2:56:56it's the proposal itself would exceed the the minimum for the for the threshold for the center

2:57:02okay thank you councillor kibson did you want to try anything else or

2:57:09yes thank you I'm back does that sound a little bit better yes it does yeah I joined on my other

2:57:15other uh device um so thanks for that I appreciate because that was a question that came um through

2:57:21the public consultation that you held last year so I do I do appreciate you walking us through

2:57:25that justification um the second question I have is probably one that others will have too it's the

2:57:30idea of the um slight parking reductions that you've asked for I'm just wondering if you could help me

2:57:37understand how the commercial residential parking allotments that you provided again help complement

2:57:43each other and how um the justification for the slight reduction in parking just to be clear that

2:57:53for the town house units there's actually a surplus of parking so we're just speaking as to the

2:57:57the mixed use buildings proper um in terms of the we submitted a parking study as part of the

2:58:02transportation impact study that was supported that was submitted with the application it's

2:58:06currently under review by city staff in terms of the the slight reduction in the parking requirement

2:58:11um there are there are some synergies between the commercial and the mixed use or the residential

2:58:16units in terms of the time of day that those would be used but there's also the transportation

2:58:20demand management that's been identified uh that the building and the sites the sites and the

2:58:26buildings are located with on three bus routes um there's there'll be a a significant amount of

2:58:31bicycle parking proposed as well so from the point of view of of of justifying the slight

2:58:36reduction in the rate that certainly we've outlined that in the material submitted with the application

2:58:40and we'll look forward to having some comments back from staff about that and working through

2:58:43that that we're working them through during the process right thank you and and for the record I

2:58:48do agree with your word some of your justifications especially on the on the commercial residents

2:58:53because they will complement each other as as um as people leave the commercial units the residential

2:58:59maybe since bill over happens we know that that's possible um on the on the picture of your stacked

2:59:05townhomes at the back or so your back to back townhomes on the back side of the property on

2:59:09the outside of the property in the images you shown um there's not a lot of front lot space

2:59:15and I'm just wondering is this the noted private road that is going in and and how do we I'm just

2:59:21looking at snow storage and snow removal for the area have you started to think about where that

2:59:25would go um for the for the townhouse units and certainly that in terms of snow removal that's

2:59:33something that would be dealt with during site plan approval but the architects have thought

2:59:36that through with snow locations all located on site and once again that's those materials where

2:59:41we're showing that are under review by staff and so we'll keep working with staff on that to make

2:59:45sure that everything's satisfactory from a from a snow removal process point of view great thank

2:59:50you just a few more the the the parking the residential parking one garage one driveway

2:59:56spot that's pretty standard I get that and I appreciate that we have a slightly relaxed bylaw

3:00:02in our city now that allows residents to slightly expand the driveway to allow for some more space

3:00:07maybe a walkway down the side maybe a comment back or question back when you're designing those

3:00:13those garages this is a heavily a heavily suburban area a lot of two car families

3:00:20a lot of commuters so just the idea of potentially creating garage space that is

3:00:25adequate for a family size vehicle just just as a common as a takeaway if you haven't finalized

3:00:30your architecture of all your designs think mini van syndrome in garages that's all I can say

3:00:36for the east end of the city it's um it's it's what we're doing out here so I appreciate that

3:00:43my last question and I don't mean to pry thank you so much for the engagement that you've already

3:00:47had with the community on this and more importantly thanks for listening to the community's comments

3:00:51about the commercial space are you willing to divulge or talk more about the the commercial

3:00:56interest on the site I mean I drive by the site every day and see that you're you're

3:01:01promoting it for a grocery retail can we discuss or is there potential for discussing any of the

3:01:07potential tenants that are coming I'll turn that over to Joe if that's okay sure good evening

3:01:12hi my name is Joe Valola I'm the owner of the company um yes there you know since the community

3:01:19meeting there's been a lot of interest we've hired a local broker and we certainly have interest

3:01:26especially grocers but we can't do much unless we get an approval so it's critical to get the zoning

3:01:33approval they're waiting for that and so we can move forward to the next stages so yes there is a lot

3:01:39of interest and we'd like to get started on that as soon as we can thank you great thanks so much

3:01:46mr. Valola I'll save my comments for the end but those are my questions mr. mayor thank you

3:01:51okay thank you uh councillor kate and over to you thank you through you mr. mayor um so I'm I'm

3:01:58also glad to hear about the commercial it's one of the most talked about questions I get from residents

3:02:04in the area they also asked me a lot about the traffic so I'm wondering if you could talk about

3:02:10plans for the intersection in terms of the intersection there was a conceptual design that

3:02:18was proposed were prepared for the the zoning but by law amendment application then again that's under

3:02:22review by staff there was a traffic impact study that was prepared with the justification for the

3:02:28intersection and for all the intersections on that are proposed on site once again that's under

3:02:33review by staff so certainly staff have what they need in terms of that for that review

3:02:38and does that answer your questions sufficiently or do you want me to speak a little bit further

3:02:43um so basically the the answers are forthcoming once staff reviews the the plan

3:02:50essentially yes I mean we've made a proposal we've have a conceptual design

3:02:53and then we'll look for staff's input into that and then we'll address any comments

3:02:57great and uh similarly I saw that your design had quite a lot of trees especially in the

3:03:05the areas with the townhouses do you have a number of trees that you're going to be planting that

3:03:11you know of right now or is that something that is also going to be found out in the future

3:03:17in terms of the trees that we submitted a master concept landscape plan

3:03:21that provides an overall look and certainly the the details of trees and those kinds of

3:03:26matters are dealt with at site plan approval but certainly in terms of in terms of the the

3:03:30master concept plan and the urban design brief that we're prepared that's what we're showing in

3:03:34terms of in terms of the trees that are proposed but certainly that's that's that that represents

3:03:39the intention great and uh through the mayor just final question and I we've talked a lot about in

3:03:46the past as we've kind of gone through this process about different accessibility features

3:03:51that you're putting in I was wondering if you could outline some of those in terms of accessibility

3:04:02if it's you're speaking as to parking the minimum parking would be required

3:04:07underneath the the zoning bylaw would be would be would be achieved in terms of the accessible

3:04:12accessibility in terms of the units I believe it's 15 percent of the units have to meet

3:04:17underneath the OBC have to meet accessibility requirements so that would be the that would

3:04:20be the threshold as well and again at this point in terms of some of those details those would be

3:04:26at site plan approval I know I'm saying that a lot but that this is the zoning stage and certainly

3:04:30that's the time when those details are really really thought through and work through with staff

3:04:33as well through their detailed review great thank you very much thank you counselors going over to

3:04:42Koran and then O'Rourke great thank you the park that's shown I think in the southern east

3:04:49eastern portion um that would be accessible to say the high density development across

3:04:56starwood that's already built that would that park is open to anybody is that correct yes

3:05:02it's the intention is for a public park and that would be dedicated to the city through the process

3:05:07so that park would be for the for the for the for the public anyone from the public can come and

3:05:12visit the park it's not just for the for the development proper so feeding into that park and

3:05:18for those who live across the street and live in the high density buildings that front onto

3:05:23to Watson and starwood they would have to walk through the complex which is privately owned in

3:05:27order to be able to access that park is that correct for the most part I mean I know there's

3:05:31some trail linkages but anyone who lives there anyone who lives across the street who crosses in

3:05:37and goes through the the high rises has to walk through the private development to be able to

3:05:42access the park with is and so really what I the reason I'm asking that question is is about

3:05:47accessibility in terms of sidewalks and and road safety because a lot of that development is going

3:05:53to have cars going in and out it goes through a parking lot and I didn't see on the renderings

3:05:58really what the pedestrian work looks like for people to be able to walk through the complex

3:06:03both those who live there and those who are coming from outside in order to be able to access the

3:06:08park our sidewalks integrated through all of the townhouses and back-to-back towns

3:06:18in terms of in terms of sidewalks there is an urban design brief that was prepared

3:06:22to support the application and if you review that it's with the materials there is a pedestrian

3:06:26plan that's shown there with all the pedestrian connections but certainly the permeability

3:06:31for pedestrians is a component of the design in terms of municipal sidewalks certainly

3:06:37the park itself isn't that far from those from the new buildings that have just been constructed

3:06:41there the park would be accessible through the through the municipal sidewalks as well

3:06:46so certainly the there's pedestrian connections that would be prepared and proposed

3:06:51and those again those details would be determined as we move along but that certainly is the

3:06:55attention to have make sure that there's a linkages through the site and again there is also that

3:07:00the trail connection that that would be facilitated as well which helps increase the permeability

3:07:05in that neighborhood as well. Okay I'll have to look outside of the the application site then to

3:07:12look for those those pedestrian linkages and then I know again this is site plan and it's really

3:07:18about architecture and design and it's not something we as council or tonight we're here to talk about

3:07:23land use zoning but so many of the private parking spaces with garages take they take up a lot of

3:07:30room in the complex and I see what you where you're going with the back-to-back towns in the back-to-back

3:07:36design you know things like barbecues or putting in a play structure for kids those will go in

3:07:42the front and the driveways and the garages will become the amenity space for the unit.

3:07:50You know an older design that's working well in some of our older townhouse developments is the

3:07:55idea of communal parking where you have a parking lot for 20 cars five units numbered spaces much

3:08:02better use of land use and then that front area of the house because I saw the rendering of the

3:08:08townhouse thinking oh children can play there but they can't play there because it's a roadway that

3:08:14is accessed by cars and driveways and garages have you thought about communal collective

3:08:19parking instead of private parking? We can turn to the to the owner if that's necessary but certainly

3:08:26that's not something that's contemplated and the types of units the back-to-back and that are set

3:08:30are different than the the town the street towns the street towns would have a larger front area

3:08:36but I'll turn it over to Joe. We have looked at it but I believe in our opinion from a marketing

3:08:45standpoint people really want to park where they live I mean you think about a communal somebody

3:08:51coming home today in this winter with kids and shopping and then getting from that communal

3:08:57parking space to their home it just it's not marketable it doesn't work it doesn't work in

3:09:05today's world they want to be able to get to the park if they leave you know if they leave

3:09:10something in their car sorry they want to be able to get at instead of walking a block over or two

3:09:14blocks over to go back to the car to get something that they may have missed there because I know I

3:09:18do it all the time I always leave stuff in my car and then I'm running back you know you know like I

3:09:23live in a car though I have to come back 24 floors to go to you know like to my car people want to

3:09:30have their cars near them and so you know we've looked at it for other sites I'll be honest we

3:09:35didn't look at it here we just don't think that it works here people love their cars it's Guelph

3:09:40right yeah and I guess I wasn't thinking one large communal lot I know we have in in ward five we

3:09:46have a 350 townhome complex that has smaller communal lots that are walkable to those townhouses

3:09:53and the reason I mentioned that is with the back-to-back units which is something that's on the table

3:09:58to talk about tonight is that the amenity space the barbecues the kids you know climbers those are

3:10:05going to be in the front and the units that I'm aware of you know again using an example from our

3:10:11ward they actually have a fenced-in yard in the front in the back-to-back units so that so that

3:10:16they can have the that amenity space in the front with the driveway that's not really so yeah those

3:10:22are all good points but we really designed for the market that we believe is going to buy here and so

3:10:28this is what we've come up with and on that note you're you're thinking that the market is families

3:10:35yeah definitely for sure yeah it's going to be a large part families thank you um counselor or work

3:10:43please thank you mega three so through you to the proponents um you're asking for many variances

3:10:52right so I've counted 24 on the buildings and 15 on the town so give or take um higher density

3:10:5914 stories were tenor permitted no step backs no angular planes longer buildings uh significantly

3:11:05reduce common amenity areas and a much higher maximum lot coverage like this is a tight tight

3:11:11development and then your slide titled community benefits I'm curious are any of those over and

3:11:18above the minimum that's required by our policies so community benefit under the old planning act was

3:11:26we would like additional you know stories and so we will provide these affordable units

3:11:32or we will provide additional park space so on your slide titled community benefits like is there

3:11:37anything over and above really what is required to help to offset uh the variances that you're

3:11:44seeking in terms of the community benefits perhaps we could have framed that differently it's not meant

3:11:51to be like community benefits under the planning act or something to that effect it was more to

3:11:56speak to the aspects of the proposal that are benefit to the community in terms of

3:12:00what's being provided so it wasn't supposed to be a specific thing dealing with with building

3:12:04heights but I would note that the building heights for example there are there are aspects of the

3:12:09site specific regulations that are required um more on a technical basis like the 14 stories

3:12:15would implement the official plan that had changed after the city had approved the the new zoning

3:12:20bylaw the same with the maximum net density there the site itself in terms of the proposal

3:12:27it's the site is an awkward site it's difficult to accommodate buildings in certain ways it doesn't

3:12:33that the new bylaw and the cmc zone doesn't necessarily anticipate that and trying to achieve

3:12:38the densities that the city is looking for on the site while accommodating a park while accommodating

3:12:43commercial while accommodating a road network and the all the other aspects that are proposed the

3:12:48natural heritage system lands that that that a point three hectares as well it really shrinks

3:12:53the site and and uh and that we're looking for ways to try to accommodate a proposal and the

3:12:59proposal itself when you see the images like it's not something that looks odd it's just that the

3:13:04site specific zoning is required because the number of regulations that are very prescriptive

3:13:09don't necessarily accommodate what's being proposed so we're just adjusting those as he's as need be

3:13:14for the proposed development that we have right thank you so through you merga three just another

3:13:18question then your slide deck also refers to affordability um are there any affordable units

3:13:26in development or are you thinking just adding more units in the city uh you know supply and

3:13:32demand affordability but are there any affordable units i might turn over to joe for that question

3:13:37thank you we designed the site with affordability in mind so the buildings we're looking at for

3:13:50example purpose built rental uh there's going to be condos and if you notice there's no singles here

3:13:55this is we're dealing with a smaller type of a product that's where we're trying to hit affordability

3:14:02okay so market affordability yes yeah and through volume mostly yes okay um so through you my

3:14:09gut through to have a couple more i'm i've always said i'm a south end counselor we get more height

3:14:15there the people in the highest density should have the best backyards uh the people in the

3:14:20buildings won't be able to have a barbecue and that kind of stuff is there any room to consider

3:14:26moving that park space to be more central to the development so that it's closer to the buildings

3:14:32and to councillor Caron's point easier for sort of neighboring neighboring kids to access that park

3:14:39space in terms of the park the location it was carefully considered uh there's the there is a

3:14:46requirement and staff can speak to that about having a park with frontage along the public road

3:14:51so having a park that would be interior to the site wouldn't be possible because the development

3:14:55itself will be will be a will will have private roads so we have to have it on the exterior of the

3:15:00site it's it's adjacent to the natural heritage system to have the benefits of being connected to

3:15:05there and there's the the trail as well that would be proposed through there too to connect it

3:15:09so that's why having it within the development proper like in the middle of it it's it's more

3:15:14difficult and it wouldn't be a public park at that point i don't believe is either um so we're

3:15:18really trying to work with all of these different aspects of the design to try to to try to achieve

3:15:23a park the commercial the higher densities the building heights um it's it's we're trying to

3:15:29accommodate many different things and by moving it in it just makes it even more difficult okay thanks

3:15:34and through you merga through my last questions about parking obviously so you're asking for some

3:15:38parking reductions and it works it works in a uh mixed use neighborhood um can you tell me two

3:15:46questions on parking can you tell me where the visitor parking will be for the back to back

3:15:50towns because it looks pretty tight like there won't be any on street and then for folks in the

3:15:55buildings is there anything or will there be anything in any of the agreements so that they

3:16:01know that they or their visitors can park in the commercial spaces um just so they have that

3:16:08assurance because obviously there's no overflow road you can't go park on Watson right so um

3:16:13just wondering about those additional parking spaces where those will be in terms of visitors

3:16:19parking the visitor parking for the back to back towns yeah there is visitor parking proposed as

3:16:24part of the plan um on site so that that you'll if you don't have we don't have the plan in front

3:16:29of us on screen but there is parking that's shown there and in terms of in terms of agreements between

3:16:34the commercial do you mean the townhouse residents being able to park no so so then if you're in a

3:16:39counselor Gibson referred to it that uh when you're in a mixed use development right you're parking

3:16:47at night and so folks going to the dentist or the hair salon or you know god help us a grocery store

3:16:53um they're not there at that time and so you can use that parking because what the

3:16:59residents need is different than what the commercial users need in the agreements will there be anything

3:17:05to give comfort to the folks in those in those apartment buildings in the mixed use buildings

3:17:10that they will be able to use those commercial parking spaces they are their visitors i see

3:17:15Joe coming down so i'll let him answer that thank you so yes we are going to plan and deal with that

3:17:23when the time comes we when we figure out who the commercial players are then we're

3:17:29going to look at that and we'll come up with agreements where they'll be able to share the

3:17:33facility that's great okay yeah and we can't come through you merguez we know we can't compel you to

3:17:38do that right but where there are challenges with parking with overflow then you know then we hear

3:17:45about that in the community so we just want to know that we're thinking about that ahead of time

3:17:49and we've thought about the parking very carefully and that's why we have above ground parking if you

3:17:55looked at the plans uh and there are two levels and you know we've actually seen these built and

3:18:02they work very well for those purposes the idea is not to have spillover on to private and public roads

3:18:08okay thanks and then just sorry if i may add the physical parking to requirement we actually

3:18:15are meeting we're providing to meet the demand it was the reduced parking for the residents

3:18:24so and that is that they're intended to be located at grade like on the ground level

3:18:31okay thank you and last i have councillor Allt thank you very much uh mirigathri through you i'm just

3:18:41going to ask the delegates a perennial question um as mr valela said uh some people are in love

3:18:48with their cars but guelph also in love with uh any environmental improvements that we can do

3:18:54we take very seriously the idea of moving toward net zero and 100 renewable and any other

3:19:00environmental considerations i was wondering if you could comment on net zero 100 renewable and

3:19:06anything else that would make this a a leader in environmental improvements i might turn to

3:19:13joe for it for the net zero aspect but in terms of the proposal itself there's ev chargers that

3:19:17are proposed there's an invitation gallery the bird friendly grazing glazing would be proposed

3:19:24there'd be energy efficient lighting fisters and things like that dark dark sky compliant

3:19:28lighting outside so there's a number of measures that would be accommodated and perhaps joe if

3:19:33he says he doesn't need to talk you're doing it all oh okay in terms of net zero i i i don't have

3:19:38an answer for that at this time um so we're not considering at this time that's zero but we're

3:19:58going to do everything we can to get as close as we can to well thank you um i guess uh oh i i see i

3:20:09have a councillor billings of the question and then i did i have a follow-up with you councillor gibson

3:20:15nope okay councillor billings then uh council gives and touched on this but it's the interior

3:20:25parking space floor the request is 18 square meters where we require 20 square meters so with respect

3:20:33to um council gives and talked about a larger vehicle but we also have the the bins the waste

3:20:39bins so given that you have to have the bins plus a vehicle and you're asking for 18 what would

3:20:47that accommodate then just a small vehicle i might turn to anita to answer that question if that's

3:20:58sorry anita's on on on the on webex so sorry uh can you just repeat the last question regarding the

3:21:06the parking spaces i didn't quite catch the last you're asking for 18 square meters for the garage

3:21:14space instead of the required 20 square meters so if you have bins in the garage the waste bins in

3:21:21the garage then what does that lead to with with respect to is it just a small vehicle then that

3:21:28can fit in we haven't gone into like the detailed design of the townhouses units but then these

3:21:35are essentials that like we will have like maybe a little cut out or a little recess within the

3:21:40units to accommodate those garbage bins we're not like thinking of that like those garbage

3:21:45bins are going to be too big um but your concerns about the bigger vehicle um we will look into that

3:21:53yes i don't i don't i don't think that is particularly a small vehicle that we're thinking about

3:22:00okay i just want you to consider the bins plus the larger vehicle and and the square meters that

3:22:06you require noted thank you great thank you um so i just have one question and put ever put you all

3:22:17on the spot um you're here today we receive it goes back to staff staff come forward quickly i hope

3:22:28with an approval let's say recommendation how fast are you looking to start this project

3:22:39so we'd like to start the site plan process as soon as we can you know um there's a vacant land

3:22:48condo application that we need to that we need to come up with so we need to be sure that what

3:22:55we've designed is basically what's going to get approved so we can start that process and then

3:23:00the next process will be site plans so as quickly as the staff will allow us that's how quickly we're

3:23:05going to move right thank you we're not going to hold back we're going to go 100 miles an hour

3:23:11okay with my car as fast as yes small car okay all right no problem uh well thank you to you and

3:23:20your staff and the the applicants and and all your supporting colleagues here we appreciate that

3:23:25what's going to happen now is i'm just going to have a phone number go up on the screen um and

3:23:29i'm just going to yell that out for people just in case there's anyone um at home that might have

3:23:33been watching or whatever that would like to comment on it so it's 5198375603 and we're just

3:23:41going to pause for like three four minutes or so just to see if anyone wants to call in to speak

3:23:45about it and then after that we can come back and look to move a motion to receive thank you

3:26:24all right i'll call the meeting back to order um we have no calls and no other delegations

3:26:30which to me speaks volumes because uh this was an infill project you know there'd be

3:26:38more people here so anyways this is uh this is good how about just a motion to at least put on the

3:26:45on the floor just for now uh for receiving i'm going to go to my board one mates here Gibson

3:26:51and kate okay i saw your hand uh others but it makes sense so Gibson and kate and have moved and

3:26:56seconded um now staff have heard all of our questions so now is an opportunity for us to

3:27:03give commentary to staff before i call the vote on receiving on anything new and anything new that

3:27:09they they need to write down uh i'll go Gibson and kate and again and then i'll come into the room

3:27:17thank you through you mr mayor just um just weighing in on the park location conversation

3:27:25i think it's a good conversation to have uh just maybe some local perspective from from my point of

3:27:30view um i like the location of the parkland that's being proposed and i'll tell you why um if not

3:27:37if not along Watson parkway which i know is a really hard sell because that's great commercial

3:27:42and great uh frontage for for the development i think it should go on uh front to go on to a

3:27:48roadway uh for public for public access just as a comparison the stacked town home development to

3:27:55the north at uh law and skinner a law drive and skinner drive has a sort of public square

3:28:01or public park right in the middle of the of the development it's a very central location it's beautiful

3:28:05but it does very few people know about it and it no no fault to the residents there but um it

3:28:13does function as a bit of a private private park just because it doesn't uh front onto any

3:28:17major roadway so no one very few people outside the people who live around the park know that

3:28:22it's there so i do like the idea of having it front onto a roadway so Watson and i believe Watson

3:28:28in our capital plan is set to be repaved and redeveloped um in the in the sort of semi-distant

3:28:36future but um so it will become even more of an important roadway for people to get in and out of

3:28:41the city um my thoughts in general on the on the development uh obviously this is a long time coming

3:28:49um 20 years to to sit vacant is far too long for the area of the city that's growing as fast as we are

3:28:56and to not have the commercial amenities um that the rest of this quite frankly the rest of the city

3:29:01enjoys is um is something that has long been known as a shortcoming for the east end so i think

3:29:08you know granted in the last few years we have had a gas station come out to the east end we have

3:29:13a cafe for that morning coffee run it's not important but it's something for residents i think those

3:29:19are all important sort of um getting bi amenities the minor amenities but we do miss that key anchor

3:29:26amenity of a grocery store and potential pharmacy or drug store i think that just speaks volumes to

3:29:32um the need for this development and you know i encourage staff to work with the developer i know

3:29:38that there are a number of exemptions or requests that they've made i don't i don't see any major

3:29:44hills here but i i do hope that we see this file again in the next few months and that we can be

3:29:50working towards uh saying yes on this one i i just i can't look past as well the co-benefit

3:29:59compounding benefit of a plan where i think in recent years or even in in past years we thought

3:30:04of a primarily like a one-story ground oriented standard box grocery store and that was what we

3:30:10wanted and that's what we had to have and now we're getting a stacked benefit uh a more rural um

3:30:17sorry a more urban approach to groceries where you have residences on top of the grocery store on

3:30:24top of the pharmacy on top of the drug store which is just something that is new and i think is um

3:30:29is this it's going to be a charm to that and it's going to create a bit more of an urban

3:30:34center over here in the east end and i think it um i think it's welcome so i look forward to the

3:30:40next time we see this and i know staff have taken lots of notes i and i i'm trusting in their

3:30:46capable hands so thanks very much thank you a kate and then karan please for you um i like

3:30:56councillor gibson i'm thrilled about there being something in this space um because we need more

3:31:04commercial in the area and i think that commercial on the ground floor is a great way to achieve that

3:31:11my my hope for the area is that there is an accessible surface playground because we've got

3:31:17a lot of really tall buildings and this is the only way that we can kind of guarantee accessible

3:31:23housing with the Ontario build code as it is currently so we have the likelihood of more

3:31:30people who need accessible surfaces in that playground in this area than anywhere else in

3:31:35the east end due to the building heights so i'm just kind of hoping for that um and i like the fact

3:31:40that the the park is going to be off of the sidewalk because i know that there's a lot of

3:31:44walkability especially to the library and a lot of new families and people with young children

3:31:50are constantly kind of back and forthing to the programming that they have there thanks

3:31:56thank you very much and to karan please yeah thanks i share that sentiment the sooner the

3:32:01better that this gets built it's been it's been waiting for this development for a long time but

3:32:05our job as councillors is to get the best development that we possibly can so my comments are the

3:32:11back-to-back units are are a little different than what we're used to um and uh i i believe we need

3:32:18to make sure that we have regulations and conditions in whatever agreement or our zoning we approve

3:32:25that very specifically states barbecues are not permitted because the fire regulations don't allow

3:32:29it has to be three minutes three meters from combustible wall and any other combustible material

3:32:35including a car which means no barbecues in the townhouse units and i think we without storage

3:32:41in the front for things like strollers or bicycles um that there needs to be some you know some

3:32:47communal space for for those units so we're trying to build the best possible unit and i hope the

3:32:52developers in the gallery you know take these comments as um as you know positive contributions

3:32:59and then again i know we're working on green development standards and i know we don't have a

3:33:04building code uh that that requires it but a zero development now using heat pumps for low and medium

3:33:12density is on par with traditional gas infrastructure and hVAC systems and i'm really you know i'm

3:33:19frustrated to hear that that the developer said that they're not even considering a net zero development

3:33:25and i'd like us to push that envelope a little bit more because affordability also includes

3:33:30monthly utilities we did here in the presentation that this was going to be rental or partially

3:33:35rental which means that those bills will be passed on to the tenants in perpetuity unless net zero

3:33:42renewable heat pumps are part of the proposal so i'd like to push that as much as we can as we

3:33:47work towards a final agreement and recommendation from staff in their final report thank you is there

3:33:54anybody else before i call the vote sure count sir busatil please yes thank you um my parents are

3:34:00at market square downtown toronto church in front and so i'm quite used to in their two buildings they

3:34:05have restaurant grocery store cinema shoe repair and a bank in the basement are on the main floor

3:34:12of their two buildings which quite quite great for the community there and i'm hoping that the

3:34:18commercial absolutely commercial needed i just want to echo my concerns around uh council

3:34:23buildings that raise the questions about parking uh echo that and also the back-to-back unit says

3:34:29someone who started our family in a townhouse with three kids eventually uh you know a place for a

3:34:35swimming pool and a birthday party and uh you know um a playground kind of thing i think is really

3:34:41important to think about in families uh and our our townhouse had a community room where we could

3:34:47go and have the birthday party and and those kinds of things i don't see that identity here and that's

3:34:52just a concern from my my perspective and my work with families thank you councillor uh councillor Chew

3:35:03thank you through you mr. mayor um just the delegates i just want to acknowledge that

3:35:07this is a pretty well prepared presentation and i appreciate the slide deck as well and how you

3:35:12guys ran through the questions it's probably one of the better ones that we've received um i just

3:35:18want to acknowledge that um i just i was just ruminating a little bit about councillor giblin

3:35:24and councillor rorick's comments about the park land space i think for me if there are ways in which

3:35:30you could enhance the viewshed towards the public library so it become if there's a way to make it

3:35:36more prominent um i think that would be very well appreciated and well received uh so that's

3:35:43just some comments i have but overall i i like the layout and everything that's been proposed so thank you

3:35:53okay thank you is there anything further okay well then with that um my comments are i would just echo

3:36:01say ditto to what many of my colleagues would say um especially what councillor Chew just ended on

3:36:07as well i will say that this is probably one of the better presentations i've ever seen um the

3:36:12instant outreach and proactive work that you and your staff did um with the community too like

3:36:19meeting at the victoria road rec center there gathering feedback taking that actually taking

3:36:24that feedback to heart changing some things working with staff to get to this point does not go unnoticed

3:36:30and so i think i just would like to thank you for that um my only comment to staff is uh you know i'm

3:36:36hopeful that this can come back as soon as possible um if everything is you know met to the criteria

3:36:43that needs to be met um so that we can um actually see this site come to fruition for for once um i

3:36:51don't know how to operate earth moving excavator machines but i would love to jump in one help you

3:36:59with this site because this has been a long time coming so i i i just i think i speak on behalf of

3:37:06especially um those in the east end that uh i've been looking for this literal vacant piece of like

3:37:14it's just mud it's just been mud for years to actually finally see something to come come to

3:37:20fruition here and i would just say also that uh there's this possibility of of of jobs here too

3:37:26right we haven't even talked about that there's some economic development portion to this as along

3:37:31with the housing side of it lastly and this is just a council it has nothing to do with the uh just

3:37:35it's a funny story i just remembered because i've been here long enough i remember before i was on

3:37:41council i was a council watcher at the time and i remember councillor sowsbury asking legitimately

3:37:49to the walmart um proposal could you build um could you build a housing on top of your site

3:38:01and i also remember another councillor asking where the at the corner of uh what would that be

3:38:09wellington and gordon like where the lcbo is and the bread bar and all in there like could you not

3:38:15build could you not build residential units above and i remember in those times it was like no

3:38:22that's not what we do we're not going to do that and at that time like we're talking like a long

3:38:27time ago counselors here were thinking about this sort of mixed use opportunities in the city

3:38:33and then boom here we are today well we have an actual in an actual opportunity to actually do this

3:38:41in a way that was talked about a long time ago it's very i just i just remembering back to those

3:38:46days where it was a flat out instant no and now we have an application here where we have you know

3:38:51commercial and mixed use and people living and jobs and a site that really needs to get done

3:38:57and i'm very very excited about this and so hopefully everything can be worked out and we get

3:39:03an approval back here recommendation from staff as soon as possible and we can get going so with

3:39:09that i'll call the vote uh is anyone against the receiving of this nobody that's unanimous that's

3:39:17great we leave it to you guys to figure out the rest of it and thank you for being here uh

3:39:22councillor Goller i have you on my list uh my friend for the bylaws would you mind reading