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+-- Forum: Land Development and Real Estate (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Forum: Suburbs (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=7)
+--- Thread: General Suburban Updates and Rumours (/showthread.php?tid=4)
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 04-24-2023
(04-23-2023, 05:19 PM)ac3r Wrote: Not sure where to put this so I'm sticking it in the suburban general thread. The Dumb Ford government is considering selling off public conservation lands to developers so they can pave over them and build suburbs. This unfortunately includes the Laurel Creek Conservation Area.
What’s next as we work together to stop the destruction of farms, forests and wetlands in the Greenbelt and beyond?: https://environmentaldefence.ca/2023/02/23/whats-next-as-we-work-together-to-stop-the-destruction-of-farms-forests-and-wetlands-in-the-greenbelt-and-beyond/
I'm no Doug Ford fan but I do need to note that the selling off of conservation lands is not imminent. The conservation authorities are to finish their internal assessments (I very much doubt GRCA would consider Laurel Creek as surplus) by the end of 2024, followed by public consultations. If things go just a bit slowly, this process won't be finished before the next election.
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - ac3r - 04-24-2023
(04-24-2023, 12:28 PM)SF22 Wrote: I think we need to mobilize people as much as we can, on this one.
Sadly, most Canadians aren't going to care if it requires any effort. The only reason this is happening is because in 2022, Ontarians couldn't be bothered to go to vote and thus Doug Ford got reelected in an election that saw the lowest turnout in history.
We're a very apathetic people here. Vaccines and face masks resulted in our capital city being occupied by protestors for weeks, but when it comes to anything that actually matters people here don't have much interest.
Hopefully nothing happens with Laurel Creek. Given how much water we have in this region, I am hoping they'll obviously see that it would not be worth the challenge to develop. But that doesn't help all the other conservation areas across the province...
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - nms - 04-25-2023
I believe that a few years ago the GRCA already trimmed some of their property at Laurel Creek (around the intersection of Beaver Creek Rd and Conservation Drive). Given that the conservation authorities were initially established for flood control, I can't imagine that the insurance companies would be too impressed at raising their chances of higher payouts.
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - Kota - 04-29-2023
(03-13-2023, 08:54 AM)ac3r Wrote: At 525 Erinbrook Drive a developer is proposing a 72 unit townhouse project. It is to contain 3 buildings and 99 parking spaces.
Currently the site is a grass lot which also contains the Hope and Unity Community Garden. It'd be a huge loss if this was destroyed for housing, so I hope the gardeners can find a new location if this project is approved. Urban gardening is a great thing in its sustainability and community building so I'd hate to see it removed.
Do you have any more information on this, or where you heard it from? Have any site plans been published yet?
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - KevinL - 05-07-2023
There's a sign on the Westmount side from Activa Homes indicating something, I forget exactly what it says.
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - neonjoe - 05-07-2023
(05-07-2023, 11:51 AM)KevinL Wrote: There's a sign on the Westmount side from Activa Homes indicating something, I forget exactly what it says.
The sign is just one of their generic 'future' signs with a url pointing here.
https://activa.ca/build/future-communities/
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - ZEBuilder - 05-07-2023
(04-29-2023, 01:25 PM)Kota Wrote:(03-13-2023, 08:54 AM)ac3r Wrote: At 525 Erinbrook Drive a developer is proposing a 72 unit townhouse project. It is to contain 3 buildings and 99 parking spaces.
Currently the site is a grass lot which also contains the Hope and Unity Community Garden. It'd be a huge loss if this was destroyed for housing, so I hope the gardeners can find a new location if this project is approved. Urban gardening is a great thing in its sustainability and community building so I'd hate to see it removed.
Do you have any more information on this, or where you heard it from? Have any site plans been published yet?
From the committee of adjustment map, "Requesting a minor variance to Zoning By-law 85-1 to permit 1.4 parking spaces per dwelling unit (99 parking spaces) rather than the required 1.5 parking spaces per dwelling unit (108 parking spaces); and, to permit a visitor parking rate of 14% (14 parking spaces) rather than the minimum required 20% (20 parking spaces), to facilitate the construction of a residential development having three multiple dwelling blocks, each containing 24 dwelling units for a total of 72 dwelling units."
It's going to the committee of adjustment on the 15th, typically all the staff reports including site plans closer to the day of the meeting, typically the Friday before, so this coming Friday there might be a site plan.
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - Kota - 05-16-2023
(05-07-2023, 01:20 PM)ZEBuilder Wrote: From the committee of adjustment map, "Requesting a minor variance to Zoning By-law 85-1 to permit 1.4 parking spaces per dwelling unit (99 parking spaces) rather than the required 1.5 parking spaces per dwelling unit (108 parking spaces); and, to permit a visitor parking rate of 14% (14 parking spaces) rather than the minimum required 20% (20 parking spaces), to facilitate the construction of a residential development having three multiple dwelling blocks, each containing 24 dwelling units for a total of 72 dwelling units."
It's going to the committee of adjustment on the 15th, typically all the staff reports including site plans closer to the day of the meeting, typically the Friday before, so this coming Friday there might be a site plan.
This meeting happened today (16th) and passed with a vote of 3-0.
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - Acitta - 05-31-2023
(10-29-2022, 12:21 PM)ac3r Wrote: A developer is proposing a small townhouse project for 1257 Ottawa Street South. 3 floors, 20 units (1 and 2 bedroom), 23 parking spaces, amenity areas. Not much to say about this one so I'm just sticking it in the general thread.
![[Image: WfgsF1g.png]](https://i.imgur.com/WfgsF1g.png)
![[Image: trpbYsK.png]](https://i.imgur.com/trpbYsK.png)
I was cycling by this place and saw the sign in front and wondered about its status. According to Kitchener Planning Applications, "The Zoning By-law Amendment is under appeal at the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT)."
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - ac3r - 05-31-2023
Oh boy. Love to see our tax dollars burned. Why wouldn't they approve a modest townhouse complex?
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - panamaniac - 05-31-2023
(05-31-2023, 03:37 PM)ac3r Wrote: Oh boy. Love to see our tax dollars burned. Why wouldn't they approve a modest townhouse complex?
They can't approve it until the zoning amendment appeal is dealt with, can they?
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - bravado - 05-31-2023
(05-31-2023, 03:37 PM)ac3r Wrote: Oh boy. Love to see our tax dollars burned. Why wouldn't they approve a modest townhouse complex?
If I can quote the neighbours nearby: "The place looks like it would have too many of those people in it" and I can't think of a better use of democracy than to quash something so sinister!
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - ac3r - 05-31-2023
(05-31-2023, 04:38 PM)panamaniac Wrote: They can't approve it until the zoning amendment appeal is dealt with, can they?
Ah, I just mean potential NIMBY complaints or whatever it was that caused this. If the developer felt forced to appeal to the OLT then it must have received opposition from the surrounding community. I don't see what the issue would be, though. 15 trees would have to be cut down which indeed is a shame, but we can grow as many new trees as we want. How many NIMBYs who say that do you think regularly plant trees anyway? It's usually a BS excuse. Most couldn't give a shit. There are 20 units and 23 parking spaces proposed, so that surely can't be an issue. It's only 3 floors, so ignoring the fact that it's basically surrounded by parking lot anyway and therefore shouldn't really cast a shadow on neighbouring properties: shadow impact at that height ought to be no worse than what a tree would cast. One I especially hate hearing is that White Saviour #12809 is worried us Indigenous people were not consulted, so they have to feel offended for us. Nobody but bored social justice warrior "allies" really care about the stuff like the Haldimand Tract dispute - and, of course, NIMBYs who feel like they can use us to delay or have council reject projects. The reality is most of us Indigenous people know we need housing...lots of it...yesterday.
If I had to guess, it's probably what bravado suggested.
In any case, this stuff is so frustrating. I hate dealing with it in my work. But more so I hate dealing with it as a citizen of this province. This entire nation is lacking housing. The Liberal government opened the floodgates on immigration despite this housing crisis, because who else is going to make a Tim Horton's B.E.L.T. for minimum wage? With 500'000 people coming into the country each year we need more houses, transit, health care etc. But when we are presented with opportunities from developers to make more of what we need, it frequently gets stalled by this sort of nonsense. Time, money and patience continually gets wasted when developers are forced to spend money on lawyers and strategizing how to re-design projects so Karen doesn't write an angry e-mail about traffic again. Since politicians are narccistic, power hungry a-holes most of the time, they are more concerned with not pissing off their voters next election, even though they should be trying to be honest and principled and act accordingly. And then when projects do get rejected...it doesn't make developers feel very confident in investing in this area, which is tragic. If you spend millions acquiring a new property, hire architects/engineers/archeologists/planners/etc to design everything, pay lots of fees just to submit it to the city and then you find your efforts are rejected because of crap excuses...it doesn't exactly make a developer want to try again. They might if they have deep pockets or if they have already spent so much that they feel obliged to re-work it or go to the OLT, but after that a sane developer is just going to accept that it is just a waste of time to attempt to accomplish work in this region.
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - panamaniac - 05-31-2023
(05-31-2023, 05:35 PM)bravado Wrote:(05-31-2023, 03:37 PM)ac3r Wrote: Oh boy. Love to see our tax dollars burned. Why wouldn't they approve a modest townhouse complex?
If I can quote the neighbours nearby: "The place looks like it would have too many of those people in it" and I can't think of a better use of democracy than to quash something so sinister!
This was something said in public?
RE: General Suburban Updates and Rumours - WLU - 06-05-2023
Anyone know what's under construction on Lackner just south (east) of Victoria St? There's a tower crane erected there.
Thx