Yesterday, 08:41 PM
(Yesterday, 08:22 PM)tomh009 Wrote: Apparently this is now the ugliest building in the region, a crown formerly held by Vertikal, and and by DTK Condos before that. And all of these are apparently far uglier than anything built in Waterloo. Sigh.
The hyperbole aside, what do you propose to do to control individual building design on private property? Architectural design approval board for all buildings taller than three stories?
Even if you were to have an architectural approval board like other municipalities do there is nothing legally binding about them in Ontario, they are merely an advisory body. The planning act does not allow for design to be controlled beyond measures related to health and safety. Given this one could propose a building that that architectural board likes but after getting SPA one can change all the materials and there is no legal recourse for such action. A developer can have a project proposing real brick at the panel and SPA but through the VE process they switch to precast, they could have proposed curtain wall but switched to window wall, those switches are completely legal given the existing framework of the planning act.
Even if a bylaw were to be approved the only way it would work would be to have it stipulated in the zoning, but even then it would have to be written in such a way to prevent every building from being completely homogeneous so you'd still get buildings that range in quality. Developers would alsonwithout a doubt go to the OLT and fight it and likely win since it goes against the intent of the planning act.