09-24-2024, 09:08 PM
(09-24-2024, 06:58 PM)panamaniac Wrote: I have to wonder whether this one won't give rise to discussion about the amount of parking. It seems low.
It's certainly lower than other projects nearby, the currently under construction project at 25 Sportsworld Crossing has over 800 spaces for less than 700 units, the project at the corner of Sportsworld and King (4396 King) has 580 spaces for 616 units, so this is certainly well under both of those. The kind of parking this has is similar to alot of downtown projects so the developers using that for whatever reason. Reading the Transport Impact Assessment (TIA) I'd expect the Region and the City to both have issues with it since the project will basically make the LOS even worse than it already is, the TIA does say that the future full build out of the 401/8 interchange will help traffic, which in itself is true, but with no timeline on that the LOS will quite literally be horrific if this gets built with not only the amount of parking but the shear density planned. The driveway itself will operate at a LOS of F which is the worst possible. Even the LOS projections along King are horrific with much of King at C-F which would result in significant delays in many locations.
The site itself isn't even in the Sportsworld PMTSA but that TIA is trying to leverage the fact that its close enough to it that the parking rate can be 0.68 per unit, while its true that most PMTSAs will have no parking minimums the city has yet to apply any Growing Together zoning to Block Line, Fairway and Sportsworld, which all have their own unique challenges, Sportsworld is always going to be extremely car dependent being fenced in by the 401/8, the industrial along Maple Grove and then the Grand River so there is really a lack of connections that truthfully makes it possible to be independent of a car, while it is theoretically possible it certainly wouldn't make life easy, so while I understand the TIAs justification it's certainly got some flawed assumptions and it wouldn't be surprising if the Region and City tear it apart, but if this goes to the OLT it'll likely get approved so the city ultimately has to keep that it mind.
Certainly from a traffic engineering perspective with the LOS already as bad as it is it doesn't make a lot of sense to put this much density here with limited alternative options out of the area, so while I'd love the additional units to help ease the housing crisis this certainly doesn't make a lot of sense just from a connectivity standpoint.