10-31-2017, 07:28 AM
Heritage seems like a non-issue to me. My neighbourhood has heritage. Everyone's does. This has some designation (I wonder what these people would say if they learned their house was to be designated, though), I suppose, but I still don't think that's the issue.
I really can sympathize with the extra height and the setbacks. Three meters (ten feet) is not much of a setback from the rear lot line, especially as the homes on Ellen are on small urban lots. If they were on suburban lots 150 feet deep, it wouldn't be as much of an issue. Similarly, the height is a big change- it's a thirty percent increase from what the lot is zoned for. I can see why they would be unhappy about the prospect of a 70 foot wall ten feet from their backyard WSW of them, especially as they don't have a very large distance from their house to their lot line, anyway.
Victoria will and should be made more dense, but probably a lot less so a street like Ellen- how close to Victoria before someone's complaints about density lose legitimacy?
I have no skin in this one, so I'm just musing and trying to think how I would feel in a similar situation. My only beef is that, if the municipality is going to grant serious variances like this to allow for a six storey building on Victoria Street so close to the core, it should have retail at ground level.
I really can sympathize with the extra height and the setbacks. Three meters (ten feet) is not much of a setback from the rear lot line, especially as the homes on Ellen are on small urban lots. If they were on suburban lots 150 feet deep, it wouldn't be as much of an issue. Similarly, the height is a big change- it's a thirty percent increase from what the lot is zoned for. I can see why they would be unhappy about the prospect of a 70 foot wall ten feet from their backyard WSW of them, especially as they don't have a very large distance from their house to their lot line, anyway.
Victoria will and should be made more dense, but probably a lot less so a street like Ellen- how close to Victoria before someone's complaints about density lose legitimacy?
I have no skin in this one, so I'm just musing and trying to think how I would feel in a similar situation. My only beef is that, if the municipality is going to grant serious variances like this to allow for a six storey building on Victoria Street so close to the core, it should have retail at ground level.