Plan for 23-storey building in downtown Burlington clears hurdle
04:19 PM by John Bkila Hamilton Spectator
BURLINGTON — Height tends to be a bogeyman and seen as fundamentally bad in a development, said city manager James Ridge during a lengthy meeting on a highrise tower proposed for across from City Hall.
The city staff report on the application by developer Carriage Gate Homes wasn't the only item on Wednesday night's agenda, but it took up two and a half hours of the four-hour planning and development meeting.
"I'm not saying height isn't an important consideration; it clearly is, but the benefits of height need to be considered fairly and in my professional opinion that rarely happens," Ridge said before an audience of about 50 people.
Staff is recommending a modified approval of the application, which calls for a development across from the eight-storey City Hall spanning 412-431 Brant St. and 2007-2015 James St.
The plan includes a 23-storey building with a one-storey rooftop amenity area and four-storey podium. There will be up to 169 residential units and underground parking. Retail and commercial space is planned for the ground floor and office space on the second.
The recommendation also features building setbacks from Brant, James and John streets; a "visibility triangle" (publicly accessible open space) at the corner of Brant and James; and building "stepbacks" and terracing above the fourth floor and 18th floors.
A revised version of the original application had proposed a 27-storey, mixed-use tower with a three-storey podium featuring 179 residential units, 870 square metres of office space, 1,019 square metres of ground floor retail/commercial uses fronting onto Brant and James streets and a one-storey rooftop amenity area.
Ridge noted while the application isn't bound by the city's draft new official plan, it still achieves some of the key priorities the public voiced during summer talks on the downtown.
Those included wider sidewalks, less sunshade impacts, respect of the character of Brant Street, more public open space in the street and excellence in architectural design.
"Decisions based primarily on height of a proposal can have bad outcomes. Especially dangerous, in my professional opinion, is the notion shorter buildings are always preferable to taller ones," Ridge said.
"Having the site developed as a full 12-storey block (which he noted the developer is legally allowed to do) is as inconsistent as you can possibly get with the vision for the downtown that has developed … that would have lasting negative impacts."
But Ward 2 Coun. Marianne Meed Ward called it nonsense to say you could only get a block with 12 storeys and not a creatively designed, eye-catching building.
She also said the notion people are afraid of height needs to stop, as residents have repeatedly told her the Carriage Gate's plan is "simply in the wrong place."
"It doesn't reflect their vision … they want Brant Street protected …. I think residents are feeling a huge disconnect in their feedback and what they're getting through the application," said Meed Ward.
"This is a massive build and you'd expect to get a lot of community benefits — we're getting less retail space, less office space, no affordable units, 20 per cent will be (three-bedroom) family units …. What we're getting is a tall building."
The downtown councillor added not only would the application dwarf City Hall, but it would also set a precedent for future buildings.
Mayor Rick Goldring agreed, saying if council approves a 23-storey tower on one side of the street, they'll be getting another one on the other side.
"We heard people want to protect the core of Brant Street …. I'm not sure 23 storeys does that," he said, adding he would've been more comfortable with 17 storeys.
Committee voted 5-2 to send the application to council on Nov. 13 for final approval. Meed Ward and Goldring were the sole dissenters.
Ward 1 Coun. Rick Craven said he deeply regrets the anxiety and fear over height in the downtown, calling it unjustified and inappropriate.
"The residents in the downtown need to pause and ask themselves what the future of this downtown area is going to be like …. The future is in tall buildings," he said.
Four delegates spoke during the meeting, including Ed Fothergill, representing the developer. He said Carriage Gate believes the application will set a "tremendous" precedent for future developers who will have to build to the standards they've set.
Robert Glover, an urban designer at Bousfields Inc. and also representing Carriage Gate, spoke to the technical designs and location of the application and its merits.
The tallest buildings in Burlington's downtown don't have any relationship with the central part of the area, are spread out and don't "really tell any kind of urban design story about what downtown Brant Street is about," Glover said.
Resident Gary Scobie said it appeared staff had abandoned its vision of keeping higher buildings as far away from the lake as possible.
"I'm glad to see so many two- and three-bedroom units (at 60 and 20 per cent, respectively), but how can council make sure families will be able to afford them," he added. "It doesn't sound like it's being priced for a young family, which tends not to have a lot of money starting out."
Burlington Post
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7...clears-hurdle/
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