31 Alexandra Ave | ?m | 14 fl | Proposed

[rangersfan]

Council approves Alexandra Ave. condos
June 25, 2014 | James Jackson | Waterloo Chronicle | LINK

City council narrowly approved a 14-storey condo development at 31 Alexandra Ave. Monday, a project that’s been in the works for more than a decade.
Councillors voted 3-2 in favour of the building despite vocal concerns from area residents and business owners about the size, shape, traffic, the close proximity to neighbouring property lines and the potential for damage, and the possible shadow impacts of the development.

Coun. Scott Witmer offered a blunt assessment of those concerns, stating the city is in the position of having to grow up instead of out, and that means intensification and larger buildings.

“We are running out of places to put people,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, but that’s where we are.”

Ward Coun. Melissa Durrell, who voted against the project along with Coun. Mark Whaley, said the project hasn’t come far enough.

“In the end I feel the building is just too big for the space that’s there,” Durrell said. Councillors Diane Freeman and Karen Scian were absent for the vote.
Initially proposed as a 10-storey, 128-unit apartment in 2003 along with two levels of underground parking, the project was revised in 2008 and again in 2013, but faced public resistance each time.

The new design includes 14 storeys, 152 units, a three-floor podium consisting of townhouses at each end and parking for vehicles, and one to 1.5 levels of underground parking, pending a hydrogeologic study of the water table. The site will include 228 total parking spaces.

A traffic study suggests the site will have minimal impact on the traffic that is already in the area, but residents and Durrell had their doubts. The study suggested the building would only add between 47 and 54 vehicles to the road during peak hours of the day.

Staff said the design was a reasonable compromise considering the zoning could allow for a 25-storey structure, and the builder had taken steps to integrate the design of the townhouses fronting onto Alexandra Street into the existing design of the former Alexandra school condos next door.
Area residents filled the council chamber Monday night to express their concerns with the development.

“This is my third time before council and the building is getting larger, not smaller,” said resident Ray Blackport. “It’s still too large for the site. I understand staff are in a difficult position, but it seems the scales are seemingly tipped in favour of the developers.”

Bob Crow, who lives in the neighbouring condo in the former Alexandra school, is worried about the concrete wall residents will have to look at and the loss of sunlight. He suggested putting the project on hold until a full study could be complete of the water table and to see if the parking could be lowered deeper into the ground to reduce the overall height of the proposed building.

The property, currently a parking lot, is located on a wellhead protection area and the region is concerned about potential groundwater contamination, said Ryan Mounsey, a development planner with the city.

Since the development last came to council in April 2013 for an informal meeting, the developer has held two open houses with the public.
Coun. Angela Vieth thanked the developer for all the work they had done on the project and reminded those in the crowd the building could have ultimately been 25 storeys tall under the current zoning.

“I’m confident when it comes to site plan review it will work,” Vieth said.