By-law Number (2023)-20790, as amended, known as the Zoning By-law for the City of Guelph as it affects part of the property municipally known as 343…

46:03is called it is is address is 343 waterloo avenue it's an official plan and is owning bylaw amendment

46:10that's in front of us and this is a public and decision meeting at the same time um we do have

46:17one delegation that has signed up which happens to be the applicants the property owners uh i will

46:24just give a very high level uh sort of introduction here so this um this came to light for me just a

46:32few months ago and i i didn't know until i met these people that their place had actually uh

46:40had arson so in the middle of the day somebody came in and uh well let let their office on fire

46:47with staff there and um they luckily everyone was able to get out but their place was completely

46:53destroyed in having to rebuild they're looking to rebuild their office space so the commercial

47:00would still stay but they're looking to add residential units above and to do that uh they're

47:08based on the project that they're proposing uh there is uh some there's variances that are

47:14requested uh there's uh parking issues as well there from a from a um less parking that would

47:21be required so i'm just i'm just tabling those so it's very transparent so everyone knows that

47:26however on on sort of the scale of what i believe is a huge benefit to the city is not only can

47:33these people get their business back up and running after what they've gone through but they're

47:38actually looking to provide uh nine units of residential which we all know we need but two

47:44of them will be dedicated to meeting our affordable housing um strategy which is what's

47:51to be honest is kind of rare we have don't have people that are coming forward with that right

47:54now and that's a huge need in our community um they're also willing to actually build this project

48:00completely environmentally friendly no no gas all heat pumps that's a dedicated project

48:08that is going to specialize in environmental um use and they really want to market it that way so

48:14you know bicycle parking is available uh and they're going to as i said have those two units

48:20that are going to be dedicated to our affordable housing strategy um i want to just uh mention that

48:26uh all of the planning act provisions were done appropriately so you have to give 20 days notice

48:34that was done the mailing to the entire neighborhood was done in accordance with what's required and

48:41in fact we actually even did a mailing in the in the in the media as well so all of that was

48:47all done appropriately um we did receive um i think four or five pieces of correspondence

48:54one had some concerns about it um i have talked to that individual and actually um i i feel like

49:01i've been able to answer some of the questions for that individual one is the direct neighbor

49:07to the proposed site who was actually supporting what's in front of us here today to get these

49:13homes built and uh the the rest have been supportive uh from a from an advocacy group with a gcat about

49:21the bicycle parking and whatnot as well there's been no other correspondence to me at all no

49:27other questions at all no delegations have signed up um other than just the applicants that are here

49:32although because it's a public meeting we can always see if anybody wants to to jump in with

49:36their opinions too i'm going to stop there i am looking for my colleagues to see if there's some

49:41support on this and just to make sure everyone knows there are two ways that any mayor can bring

49:48forward uh a report like this they can bring it forward in a manner that only requires one third

49:56of council to vote on this and i have not done that i've brought it forward because i feel

50:02based on the benefits that are in front of us here i think it's worthy of all of us supporting it

50:08and all of this is a regular vote of council so it requires a regular majority of council to

50:14vote on it and i hope i'm doing it justice but perhaps the applicants can do it better than me

50:20so i'll ask the applicants to come forward and introduce themselves at this time uh they have

50:25a presentation for us as well and just so you know there's no more than 10 minutes there'll be a

50:31time at the nine minute and 30 second mark to give you a warning so welcome to morgan and martha

50:37adams and uh when you need things changed on their presentation i think you could just ask clerks

50:43to go to the next slide and i will uh the timer will start whenever you start so thank you for

50:49coming and presenting to us today over to you thank you mayor guthrie um first of all we just

50:55want to introduce ourselves my name is morgan adams i'm martha adams and um before we get going i

51:00just want to ask your grace we you know we we've never done this before um not in our wildest

51:06dreams that we thought we'd be in this position um and so as we go through fumble along we just

51:11sort of ask for your grace in that so thank you so much in advance for for your understanding and

51:17so i i want to share with you a little bit about what 343 waterloo avenue was we affectionately

51:25call it 343 and so i ask for your patience when i default to calling it 343 our building wasn't

51:34just a commercial building if i sum it up in a word it was a community our tenants weren't just

51:42local small businesses that operated out of our space we really did nurture a sense of community

51:50in our building whether it was regular potlucks that we all had or celebrating milestones that

51:56community was very much there then came the day that an arsonist entered our building looking to

52:05attack one of our tenants and thankfully we are still incredibly grateful today that everyone was

52:12safe however morgan and i uh are still dealing with the hardship of the loss of our building

52:22and more than that the community that we built and nurtured if i could ask for the help this one

52:29give the screen one okay great again thank you for your understanding in that and so today council

52:36members we're coming to present to you a redevelopment of 343 because from adversity comes opportunity

52:47the tragic loss of 343 to arson was a moment of true hardship from morgan and i but today we

52:53stand with a renewed vision one that aligns with guelph's leadership in sustainability affordability

53:02and growth here you see a site plan it's part of the documentation that we provided in it you can see

53:12the existing building and what we're proposing is a slight shifting of the property which we have the

53:18letter from our neighbor as well just to provide us with some more parking on the site as well

53:23as we all know um canada ontario even guelph we have a housing crisis and with it we have very

53:36low vacancy rates and the cost of living is rising one of the things that we thought to ourselves when

53:42we um you know had to pick ourselves up from this was how can we help the community uh in this need

53:49and so that's where we came up with the idea of saying okay how do we um you know provide some

53:54residential units for the community and so 343 is the location where we propose a new

54:04environmentally responsible development this project would include three residential floors

54:10with nine units directly contributing to guelph's housing supply the first floor i'd like to note

54:17will be rebuilt to get morgan and i back to business i also want to know that the uh the

54:26commercial space would just be morgan and i no other commercial tenants morgan and i have pride

54:37in the fact that we live in guelph and we work in guelph and one of the aspects that we're incredibly

54:43proud of is that the city of guelph is a leader in environmental solutions we also believe that

54:52a community is built by partnering really hands joining and so today council members we want to

55:00share with you how we're joining hands with the city of guelph and the initiatives that the city

55:07champions 343 the redevelopment of it really is built on three key pillars of community

55:16environment and well-being council members i'd love to share with you a little bit about

55:22the community aspects that we propose the first are accessible units barrier free

55:30grounds and interior and having an elevator that is accessible to all floors so all floors are

55:35accessible to all individuals we're also very excited about accessible bike parking and focusing

55:43on public transportation we have access to busing directly in front of the building and it provides

55:50easy access to both downtown guelph and the greater guelph area we also are excited about

56:00our commitment in zoning to two truly affordable units that meet the council's approved standards

56:08and we are committed to environmental initiatives as well and investment in the community by bringing

56:13in a local regional contractor for the environment you know we're very proud to be in guelph and the

56:23fact that this is a focus in the community we want to contribute to that need as well and so

56:30i'll have commitment to renewable energy and efficiency within the building some of the

56:33proposals that we have in terms of our building is having a naturally heated driveway and walkway

56:38eliminates the use of salt it protects our groundwater quality it also makes sustainable

56:43winter maintenance great electric charging stations solar panels in the building heat pumps with no

56:50gas and increased insulation including the walls but also the windows and much more things in the

56:57building council members when it comes to well-being we're excited about having green space that I

57:07affectionately call the zen garden for the tenants in addition to that a shared balcony space

57:16to yes focus on well-being and that sense of community as well we're also focused on financial

57:23well-being stat after stat year after year finances are cited as one of the greatest

57:30stressors that Canadians face and here in guelph that's no exception we face finances as being

57:40one of our greatest sources of stress and again over half of Canadians report

57:47negative effects from financial stress specifically linked to shelter costs so what are we doing

57:54we are helping with two significant life expenses which is rent affordability and because we are

58:01environmentally focused reducing those utility costs for tenants as well and then looking at

58:08sustainable transportation taking steps towards guelph's positive goal there whether that's in

58:16bike public transit or car share potential in any project you need partners and we're proud to

58:27partner with guelph with the cip grant application to be submitted upon a positive change in zoning

58:34here if this is what happens it shows our commitment not only to the affordable units but an actual

58:39length in time for that affordability within the community furthermore we've partnered with CMHC

58:45they have a focus on affordability accessibility and environmental sustainability with my liaison

58:51at CMHC they have expressed a real interest and an excitement for this project because it's one that

58:58can be done now most of the projects that they see have a five to ten-year time frame and that's

59:03not their goal their goal is to get people in houses now and so they are really excited about

59:07this project happening council members the heart and intention of this project is to utilize our

59:21resources to join hands with the initiatives of the city of guelph in order to be of service to

59:27our community morgan and i could have just built back our commercial space but what we want to do

59:36is to give back to our community in a positive manner 343 is a development project that balances

59:46growth sustainability and affordability and i do want to mention that we will also respect and

59:55delegate to the authority of the city planner and the chief city engineer and so with grateful hearts

1:00:03we want to thank you all so much for the opportunity to to talk with you today great thank you morgan

1:00:14and uh and martha we appreciate that and um just before i turn over to my colleagues if there's

1:00:20any questions just as a follow-up um you'll notice council that the uh the motions uh in front of you

1:00:29is yes the first one is more technical in nature around the zoning allowances to allow this project

1:00:35to take place um but just as uh martha just said the second one is that a complete site plan

1:00:42application be submitted to the satisfaction of the city chief planner and the city engineer prior

1:00:48to issuance of the building permits um so in a way i think it's kind of a failsafe that if there's

1:00:54anything that's required it will still have to go through uh christa terry and and such within our own

1:01:00staff um also that the zoning will only be contingent upon and the permits will only be allowed if

1:01:08the affordable housing agreement is penned in in a contract with the city of guelph and that there's

1:01:14no no skirting any fees here at all so everything would still be done appropriately there um in regards

1:01:21to the um you know there's some stuff that was attached to the to the application like records

1:01:28of site condition and all this stuff which we would normally never see that would normally take

1:01:32place excuse me take place at site plan and things like that um but that's all attached for you um as

1:01:38well uh so with that um i will turn it over to my colleagues to see if there's any questions at all

1:01:44oh um before i do that though i'll just see if there's anybody sorry um just wait a second okay

1:01:50um we just have to no no i can't no steven i'm going to go to questions of the applicant and

1:01:54then i'll i'll turn it over to that so questions questions of the applicant so uh councillor billings

1:02:01and then busitil and karan so through you mr mayor um my understanding is there is a short

1:02:10fall in in parking the number of spaces that are required so i was just wondering if you

1:02:16could speak to that and how you're addressing that issue yeah so thank you for your question

1:02:22yeah thank you um we do recognize there is a short fall in the parking requirement

1:02:28one of the things that we uh wanted to do was to provide other alternatives for people

1:02:34in the building including the accessible biking uh parking the access to the transportation

1:02:39you know one of the things that we also want to focus on is the wealth transportation master plan

1:02:44and the goal there of course is to get people into uh walking biking bus routes by 2051

1:02:51and uh to do that through policy to through development along transit corridors and and

1:02:57we feel this is a great project to be able to um uh you know do that with the city um as well

1:03:05in terms of um you know other things that we're looking to do in terms of reducing the need for

1:03:10a car a car share um um is proposed um delivery lockers for things like you know people order food

1:03:19and have a deliver they can don't have to go out to go get it they can have things delivered to

1:03:22these lockers that are there um in the buildings available for people um in addition to that the

1:03:30commercial space that we're using um you know we're not there in the evenings and we're not there

1:03:36in the weekends so there's additional parking that can be there uh and furthermore we're looking to

1:03:41do tandem parking um so the ability to have sort of two cars parked in in one spot for those that

1:03:48don't need to leave right if i'm there all day working i don't need to leave someone can park

1:03:51behind me um and so that can create some additional parking in that site so through your worship

1:03:59are you not also proposing that maybe i don't know one two three units uh in the lease agreement

1:04:06it'll be stated that there is no parking for those units or is that not the case and i'm

1:04:12misunderstood thank you for that clarification uh council member if yeah no that is correct uh

1:04:19your understanding is correct that they're in the lease agreements that we're going to have

1:04:24there will be notifications that there is no parking um associated with each unit so there

1:04:30there will be parking there it'll be based on either a needs basis or a first come but they

1:04:34they will know that there's there's no parking necessarily with the the unit itself and if i

1:04:40may councillor a part of the um the thought process and action plan of this building is that it is

1:04:49an environmentally friendly building and so it is um it is marketed as that um that is that is not

1:04:58only our focus but our uh steps in our in our execution um as well okay thank you

1:05:07okay uh busatil and then karan thank you and thank you morgan for the call today taking my call

1:05:16so councillor billings asked my question about tandem parking and parking and i was thinking

1:05:22about tending it's like family parking right yeah put all the keys and who gets out first

1:05:27kind of thing so thank you for that morgan in your presentation you mentioned cmhc and i wasn't clear

1:05:34i didn't quite hear where you are in the application process you mentioned that you're connected

1:05:39with can you just help me with that and also tie in whether or not this decision impacts that process

1:05:46so uh the application process for cmhc uh it's clearly delineated in their uh website on on the

1:05:54steps we have to do one of the steps to do the application process is um having the site plan

1:06:00application submitted along with zoning and other pieces so this is one piece of that puzzle

1:06:06the other pieces that we've done the um environmental stage one phase one rather phase two the rsc

1:06:11geotechnical all have come back with flying colors um and so uh we've had many calls they have a

1:06:18liaison individual uh that works with cmhc that sort of helps guide us in the application process

1:06:24and gives us feedback on our project itself and so that's where we are in that process so

1:06:29Liz is the lady that we're working with and and she's been helping us um compile the data we need

1:06:34for the application and then is uh you know waiting with baited breath to uh submit it to the next

1:06:41stage which is underwriting oh so you had a second question i'm sorry no that was uh tandem park and

1:06:47you just say family parking kind of thing okay thanks and karan please thank you and i want to

1:06:57thank the proponents because actually everything you've described everything from the transportation

1:07:02transit oriented development to the affordable housing to the environment of the heat pumps the

1:07:09carbon neutral uh building like everything that you've described is exactly what we as a council have

1:07:14been encouraging and trying to incentivize uh throughout this entire term of council is part

1:07:19of our strategic plan so um so i commend you on that um the other thing is that um you know the

1:07:27planning process requires a number of studies and i understand that's going to happen and i understand

1:07:31site plan's going to happen and i understand that all of the other planning processes are going to

1:07:36happen so i know that one of the concerns i have is not about the project but about the process so

1:07:44why i mean i'll just be blunt why aren't you following the normal process

1:07:49so when i met with cam i went to the the city sorry mayor gretteri my apologies um i went to the

1:07:59state of the city right the event that happens in the city every year and there were some comments on

1:08:06um the process of doing proposals and and how a building gets done and obviously we were only

1:08:12four months into the the fire at that point maybe six months in the fire and i asked a couple

1:08:17questions and he had asked me if i would come and talk to him afterwards right and so when that's

1:08:21sort of the first time that i had met with mayor gretteri and uh he asked me to come to his office

1:08:26we we met and and the it was clear that uh we both felt that this was a good project and please

1:08:35mayor gretteri i don't want to speak for you um and and uh and so the thought process was this could

1:08:42save us some valuable time we weren't trying to avoid any kind of fees to the city we weren't trying

1:08:47to avoid any kind of um study that needs to happen to make sure everything is safe and compliant

1:08:53but it was a matter of saying look we were we've been out of our building our business has been

1:08:57affected uh we need to get back as soon as possible and the suggestion for this route was from mayor

1:09:05gretteri and so yeah sorry i apologize please no it's just gonna say thank you thank you for

1:09:11for for that that's that's really the root of my question was whether or not this is this is

1:09:17is not about circumventing process a good project is a good project yeah and uh yeah i don't want

1:09:24to i don't have any more questions so i don't want to get into commentary i'll um i'll ask

1:09:28some questions to staff but uh i do want to commend you on on the project itself is exactly the

1:09:33type of development that i think council would have supported so um um i'm glad you're here i

1:09:39just don't like how you got here okay thank you if i could just jump in as well council to yourself

1:09:47and others they cannot do the application with cmhc unless the zoning is done so that that is a huge

1:09:55hold up and i think speed under these circumstances is exactly why i i've brought it here this way

1:10:01i'm still following all the regular public process issues so that that hasn't been um amended at all

1:10:08i have nothing further so i'd like to open it up then to um anybody else that wants to speak to

1:10:14the matter thank you very much you can have a have a seat and and we'll see what happens so thank you

1:10:20and i'll just yell out a number on the screen here for anyone that wants to call in

1:10:24and it will come up on the screen as well it's 519 uh 837 5603 we'll wait three four minutes or so

1:10:32like we normally do to see if anyone wants to call in okay we're good there's been no calls in on

1:12:52this matter either are you okay yeah you're you're allowed yep if you yeah and come on down

1:13:00yep okay and just state your name please thank you hi i'm daniel kaufman great thanks for coming

1:13:14go right ahead well really i'm just speaking because of what i've just heard here i think it's

1:13:18something that's really great um especially in a time where depending on the way that things are built

1:13:23you can encourage or discourage community i think with something like them where they're

1:13:28already trying to focus on getting tents together and building community there i think that's great

1:13:32i'm not going to get deep into it but i do have my own landlord where it's a bit difficult for us

1:13:37to make community it's hard to communicate with them the space isn't necessarily built for that

1:13:41and we'd like to move forward with that but for this kind of situation where they'd like to put

1:13:46that first and forward i think that's really great and i just wanted to say that and just

1:13:51support that as a citizen i think that's great great that's all thank thank you very much appreciate

1:13:57no no questions from any of my my colleagues no okay thank you very much for coming thank you

1:14:03okay so it's back to us council and um councillor Goller you said that you would move thank you and

1:14:11richardson i think i've had others but richardson said second thank you so it's on the floor are

1:14:17there any questions for me um at all councillor alts thank you mayor guthrie i have questions

1:14:23for you but also for staff and i i recognize planning staff are not here but mrs jane homeziz and i

1:14:30was wondering if i could understand why planning staff are not in attendance and why the report

1:14:36was not written by planning staff at this point um through the mayor through the mayor to council

1:14:42alts um our planning staff um as with most most professional staff are guided by a code of conduct

1:14:49that do require them to go through certain processes and in order to be able to

1:14:55provide an opinion to council on how to move forward with an application

1:14:59in this case there's a there was this some studies and technical analysis that still

1:15:05needs to be done we don't have that yet there is also a we would also need an opinion on the

1:15:12conformity with the provincial planning statement that's that we don't have so the reason why you

1:15:18don't see planning staff here today we don't have that information so they would not be able to

1:15:24provide an opinion at this time what you do see though we're happy to see that with some of the

1:15:30recommendations though that that information will be coming as part of site plan um with the um to

1:15:37the satisfaction of of the chief planner just another concern um i'm wondering uh through you

1:15:43mr. mayor to staff i am as i'm listening i'm wondering because you're saying that these things

1:15:49still must come up whether this expedites the process much if at all through the through the

1:15:55mayor to council all i would say for the overall process from beginning to end um it probably

1:16:01doesn't um add that much um efficiency to it i would say though that i'm just in hearing what the

1:16:07mr um what the mayor was saying just in regards to um the requirements for the cmhc um that it

1:16:16does provide the the applicant with some certainty that council is in support of this of this application

1:16:25thank you and uh through you mr. mayor to you um one of the concerns that i have about this is

1:16:32very similar to council coran and it is very much um a question of due process i have no problems

1:16:39with the with what i've heard the pitch being made and uh to the to the owners of the property

1:16:45and to your tenants i'm truly sorry that uh that that unfortunately arson was committed

1:16:52in that there were victims of a dangerous and crime against property and also potentially against

1:16:58the lives as well which puts many many people in danger but the the real concern from me mayor

1:17:03guthrie actually is the process and uh so i i need to understand why as as you said there is a

1:17:13community benefit from this and it strikes me that anything that comes before our council

1:17:18through the normal process has community benefit how does this differ uh thanks counselor uh so

1:17:28two affordable housing units that will be um enforced through the zoning that would not happen

1:17:35without without this uh in front of us um i would say the pace is important here and i i will

1:17:44respectfully just say that i was told that it would probably save them anywhere between four

1:17:49to six months by being here today um speed is important especially for i felt a business that

1:17:56had their place burned to the ground and um and the fact that they're willing to do those extra units

1:18:03meeting our affordability policy which we unanimously passed and we haven't had any of those types of

1:18:10units come forward at all and so here we are with the opportunity for that

1:18:14and then finally i would just say the um the environmental aspect of it as well i think is

1:18:20is a huge benefit that i've heard this council for 10 years say that they're looking for exactly

1:18:24this type of project um and i just felt like it was worthy to try to bring it forward um and

1:18:31finally i would just say on the speed aspect of the benefit of that is they can finally get that

1:18:36application into cmhc if we do not give them the zoning for what they are required it might

1:18:41actually affect their application process and that's a parallel process to sort of speed so

1:18:47there's our internal processes that they still have to comply with but there's also the speed at

1:18:52cmhc as well so the sooner we can get going conch this the sooner they can get going on what they

1:18:57need to get done it also aligns with cmhc and their application process too so um i i feel it's

1:19:03warranted because it meets what i feel is not only my own internal sort of checkboxes of the

1:19:08things that we're looking for in this community but i felt like i was harnessing in a way um everyone

1:19:13else um what i continue to hear from counselors year over year over year over year of what they're

1:19:18looking for uh and that's exactly why i brought it for all of council to vote on um in this manner so

1:19:25all the public processes uh were were met um and so i would say that we actually are fulfilling the

1:19:32right processes it's just the speed part that i think is warranted and and thank you very much for

1:19:39that it's again one of those things where i think we're going to have to agree to disagree um i think

1:19:44regrettably the cmhc probably has some processes that are uh inappropriate uh when it comes to

1:19:50speeding up housing and certainly the federal and provincial governments are aware of some of these

1:19:54now because we recognize across canada we're not going to get our complement of affordable housing

1:20:00however i do have to say in my remarks that i cannot support this because i think at the

1:20:06city level and at the council level there are procedural concerns that really are part of due

1:20:11process that exist for a reason and as i said i think it's tragic and i think it's it's shameful

1:20:17and it's certainly criminal that arson has occurred but i think that we do need to be mindful

1:20:23of our processes because every development that comes to us has a community benefit

1:20:28and many of them have a cmhc application that is pending and my concern is that the argument will

1:20:35be made that many proposals can come before us that can forgive me for the term jump the queue

1:20:42as a consequence of asking for a mayoral order um and that creates a problem for us in my opinion

1:20:51so i will not be supporting this and just to respond as a point of personal privilege um they

1:20:57did not jump the queue by asking for a mayoral order no no let me finish i have the floor okay

1:21:02they did not come to me with that at all it was my suggestion to do that to help people in these

1:21:07circumstances that's why it's in front of us okay just want to make sure that that's very clear

1:21:11and just just point of personal privilege i i acknowledge that it is nothing against you

1:21:16it is my concern in the future that people will perceive it as a precedent and will make

1:21:22similar arguments that are either appropriate or inappropriate and then we have a conundrum

1:21:26for council okay but we're not here to debate the strong mayoral process here no thanks to you

1:21:32for doing your personal privilege yeah um who else wanted to speak to this if if necessary

1:21:39no okay i'll call i'll call the vote then oh sorry councillor kate and sorry go right ahead

1:21:45thank you through you um i think to you um i was just wondering about the public feedback

1:21:54like like counselors alt and um cron i also think it's a great project and i'm just kind

1:22:00of a little bit concerned about the process um is there any way just because this happened so

1:22:07quickly is there any other way to have more public feedback kind of put into the process

1:22:17thanks councillor there there isn't um all the public feedback process was followed

1:22:22so there's nothing about this process that has been changed at all the 20 day notice was done

1:22:28appropriately the notice in the paper or the media was done appropriately um i would say on

1:22:35further to that there was lots of sort of media coverage on on this as well um so everyone has

1:22:40known that this has come um there yeah so i i don't think that i don't think there's any reason

1:22:46to add anything more because everything has been met under the planning act for the public notification

1:22:52okay thank you okay thank you okay i will call the vote then is anyone against okay just councillor

1:23:03alt all right thank you very much your project approved or the zoning is approved and we wish

1:23:09you all the best invite us all to do the ribbon cutting at some point okay we want your business

1:23:14to succeed so thank you very much and thank you to council um okay we're going to continue to move