Guelph City Council gave unanimous approval to a pair of development proposals at its planning meeting of council Monday night.
In total the two mean a combined 168 new housing units, a variety of condominium apartments, townhomes and stacked townhomes.
89 Beechwood Ave.
The developer, Granite Homes, made a number of changes since first bringing the proposal to council almost two years ago after the neighbourhood expressed concerns about density, parking, sight lines to the adjacent Howitt Park and the overall size of the development.
It started out as 34 townhomes, 12 stacked and 22 clustered. Through revisions it now sits at 22 units, with the stacked townhouses now two storeys instead of three, and with the taller homes relocated to the south side of the property. Sightlines to the adjacent Howitt Park have also been improved.
The park is scheduled for an upgrade in 2022.
"Needless to say, since 2017 we've been working hard with staff," said David Aston, speaking on behalf of the developer, adding that "we haven't addressed all of their concerns but think we've done our best" to address most of them.
Delegates from the Beachwood-Chadwick-Hearn Neighbourhood Association expressed several outstanding concerns they have, including the loss of parkland, continued issues with sightilines to the park and parking for people using the park.
The neighbourhood group wants a maximum of 17 units on the site.
Neighbourhood group member Sally Humphries said that the original 34 units was a "false benchmark" that the developer would never get approval for.
The two Ward 3 councillors, where the development is situated, both voted in favour of the development.
"I don't really have a solid planning argument to turn down this proposal," said coun. June Hofland.
Fellow Ward 3 councillor Phil Allt said he was more concerned with what might come in should council turn down this proposal.
"Relatively speaking, I think we've seen a development where there has been an attempt at compromise," Allt said.
120-122 Huron St.
The development at 120-122 Huron St. where a former shoe factory and later Uniroyal rubber factory stands was downsized from 182 total units to 146 units (87 condos and adding 59 cluster townhouses). This has allowed the development to up the number of parking spaces from 228 in the original design to 252 in new design.
Dropped from the original plan were plans for stacked townhomes.
The exact location is on a 2.5-hectare lot on the southeast corner of Huron and Alice streets in The Ward neighbourhood. The four-storey former factory is a heritage building.
The development, if approved, would garner the city $2.74 million in development charges and $488,000 annually in property taxes.
The city would take cash in lieu of parkland from the developer after plans to put a park on a vacant lot across the street at 104 Oliver St. proved problematic in that the Oliver Street lot is not part of this development. City staff will be looking into purchasing the empty lot separately for future use as a park of some kind.
Previously some area residents expressed concerns about traffic issues the new development might bring to the area.
Area resident Joan Fenlon spoke as a delegate Monday, saying that "nothing has been done, so we're a little frustrated down there."
She said this development, combined with others expected in the area in the near future, will create serious traffic and parking concerns on the neighbouring streets.
Ward 1 councillors Bob Bell and Dan Gibson wanted to send the issue of traffic concerns, including potentially making Manitoba and Oliver streets one-way streets, was voted down.
An amendment to their motion by coun. Leanne Piper to send the issue to staff for traffic calming review was also voted down.
Mayor Cam Guthrie said a look at traffic concerns should be done after the development is built and any ensuing traffic issues are identified but was a little miffed when both options were voted down.
Councillor James Gordon declared a conflict of interest on this vote because he lives on an adjacent street that was part of the discussion.
