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CATCH News – September 18, 2009
Residents oppose Dundas towers
Proposals to build two 10-storey condo towers at St Joseph’s Villa in Dundas are facing stiff citizen opposition. Issues include loss of the greenspace used by Villa residents, impacts on the adjacent environmentally significant area, traffic safety, building heights and resulting density levels.
Opponents collected 650 names on a petition during last month’s Dundas cactus festival. As of the end of August, the city had also received 118 letters on the Villa proposal.
One of the towers would be built at the corner of Governors Road and Ogilvie Street and would include 2 floors of retail and 88 residential units. The second, comprised of 120 residential units, would replace gardens and lawns behind one of the two shorter Villa towers. It is immediately adjacent to the Dundas Valley environmentally significant area (ESA) and overlooks Spring Creek, one of the tributaries of Spencer Creek, as well as single family homes on two sides.
The proposal is being supported by city planning staff.
“It is an appropriate development that will protect existing environmental features, will promote inclusive design and housing options for Hamilton Residents, and reinforce Dundas’ economic vitality by strengthening existing uses and facilitating creation of new employment and economic development opportunities”, states the staff report. &ldqu o;It is compatible with the type and form of development in the surrounding neighbourhood and would maintain the privacy and amenity of lower density residential uses.”
An environmental impact study prepared for the proponent calls for a 7.5 metre buffer between the second new building and the significant woodlands beside it.
Provincial rules incorporated into the city’s new rural official plan call for “a minimum 30-metre vegetation protection zone measured from the drip line of trees at the woodlot edge”. The new urban plan reduces that to a 15-metre zone. Howe ver, the amendment being sought is to the old Town of Dundas official plan and the only reference in the staff report to the new urban official plan doesn’t refer to buffering rules for ESAs and significant woodlands.
Their report says the smaller buffer has been “approved” by the volunteer Environmental Significant Areas Impact Evaluation Group (ESAIEG) and the Hamilton Conservation Authority. Meeting minutes of the four-member ESAIEG note several concerns expressed by the group after meeting with the proponent’s consultants, but conclude that it “generally agrees” with the 7.5 metre buffer.
“Although this buffer is not as wide as what is normally required adjacent to a wooded ESA, it was considered adequate because it was measured from the drip line of tree limbs which leaned well over the lawn area,” says their recommendation. “Because the buffer was measured from this generous ESA boundary, ESAIEG is satisfied with 7.5 metres.”
The petition points to historic Dundas rules limiting building heights, and argues that “adding 208 units at the fatal intersection of Governor’s Road and Ogilvie Street would put public safety at risk.” Current zoning restricts building heights to three storeys.
A Dundas Star story this week reports on the death of a leashed dog being walked along Governor’s Road where the sidewalks are immediately adjacent to the road. The dog was killed instantly by a speeding car when it stepped into the curbside lane.
A newsletter issued by the opposing residents last month, says “repeated attempts to correspond with Villa representatives have been denied” and argues that “this level of crowding impacts community character, traffic and pedestrians, putting public safety at risk.”
The staff report also notes concerns from St Joseph’s residents “over the loss of outdoor amenity space as a result of the proposed buildings and parking areas”, and agree that this is a problem, but promise to “ensure that enhanced landscaping and improved circulation space within the site is provided and maintained” when the site plan is developed after project approval.
The issue goes before the planning committee on Tuesday morning (September 22).