Hello Ward 8 Neighbours,
“Disapointed” is the term Councillor Danko used when questioned by the Hamilton News this week to describe an appeal that has been filed by Valeri Construction Limited to permit a proposed nine-storey residential development at the corner of West 5th and Stone Church Road.
For more details, please continue reading below…
The reason for the appeal is City of Hamilton planning staff were unable to approve the submission by Valeri Construction Limited and the applicant was not willing to substantially compromise on their proposal. While these discussions were ongoing, the timeline for appeal passed. Instead of continuing with the process that would have likely resulted in a drastically reduced scope development, Valeri chose to end discussions with the City and instead appealed directly to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).
LPAT is a quasi-judicial process under the jurisdiction of the Province of Ontario.
“We were working with Valeri…It is really disappointing for me as the ward councillor, and very disappointing for the ward residents who participated in this process”, Councillor Danko told the Hamilton News about the appeal brought forward to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.
According to the Hamilton News, Valeri Construction Limited sent a letter to the city on July 30, 2020 stating council had yet to adopt an official plan amendment for the property within 120 days of the application identified as completed. The owner is appealing the non-decision to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.
From the article, City staff had identified the application as complete on May 23, 2019. Since the initial application for the rezoning application, 465 days have gone by.
“Our client is of the opinion that the applications as submitted are consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement 2014,” Russell Cheeseman, lawyer for Valeri Construction Ltd, told the Hamilton News.
Councillor Danko told the Hamilton News that city staff have been actively engaged with the owner to shape the application to fit the unusual, 0.8-hectare property.
“We were working with that applicant to try to (make it) more sympathetic to the surrounding area,” city planner James Van Rooi told the Hamilton News, going on to state that “however, as those discussions transpired it was clear we were just on different sides of the fence.”
It is very important to make the point that appeal for non-decision does not mean that Council or planning staff were not capable of making a decision – we spent additional time working with the developer in good faith to come up with a mutual solution which put us over the timeline that allowed the developer to appeal straight to LPAT. The developer was unwilling to substantially compromise, and instead of choosing to listen to the concerns raised by residents and staff, chose to bypass the process and appeal directly to LPAT.
The City will defend the City’s interests at LPAT, unfortunately there is no avenue for resident involvement in the hearings.
Ward 8 Councillor John-Paul Danko
Van Rooi told a recent planning committee meeting that the developer had first submitted a 237-unit residential development that included a 10-storey building with 70 surface parking spaces and 171 underground parking spots.
Staff opposed the proposal since it provided “little” buffering and there was a lack of setbacks between the residential homes and neighbouring lands to the north, east and west. Staff also had problems with the height and “mass” of the building.
On Feb. 20, 2020 a revised application was provided to the city that proposed 226-residential units in a 10-storey building, with 59 surface parking lots and 167 underground spaces. The plan had adequate setback requirements, but staff still had “concerns with the design and impact of massing and height” for the property.
A third submission, on June 17, 2020, proposed a 216-unit residential development in a nine-storey building with 54 surface parking spaces and 243 underground spots, according to the Hamilton News.
Van Rooi told the committee, that within the area there are only single-family homes and four-storey institutional buildings. Upper James, which is a block over, has the next highest buildings at six storeys. Van Rooi went on to state that the development proposal of 10 storeys would double the density of what is appropriate for that area.
A public meeting, which the Ward 8 office reported about, was held Sept. 19, 2019. It found that a large number of people were opposed to the plan.
The Hamilton News states that staff have received 47 written submissions against the project and a petition signed by 76 people objecting to the development.
With the developer bypassing the municipality and going to the provincial appeals tribunal, Councillor Danko told the Hamilton News that “it is really unfair to the residents.”
Area residents are concerned about increases in traffic, parking problems, the site servicing capacity, over development of the site and compatibility of having a nine-storey tower beside existing single-family homes.
Questions or Concerns?
The Ward 8 office will keep residents updated on the LPAT proceedings as new information is available.
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If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Ward 8 office here.
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