The path has been cleared for a large residential development for Whitelaw Road after the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) upheld an appeal by the developer.
Last February, Guelph City Council voted 8-3 to turn down zoning and official plan amendment applications from Armel Corporation which wants to build a 678-unit development on vacant property located at 361 Whitelaw Rd., at the intersection with Paisley Road on the city's western border.
Armel appealed that decision to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (now the OLT), which ruled in its favour in a decision released Monday.
“The Tribunal has considered all information that the Parties have provided and is satisfied that the scale and built form proposed by the Appellant on the Subject Lands are appropriate for the area and compatible with the existing and evolving context of the area,” said the written ruling by adjudicators Mario Russo and Steven Cooke.
The proposal consists of a total of 678 total residential units with 552 apartment units shared within high-rise buildings ranging in heights from eight to nine storeys, and the mid-rise buildings proposed at five storeys. The additional 124 residential units are stacked and traditional townhouses.
Council went against the recommendation of its own staff last February when it voted against the official plan and zoning bylaw amendments requested by Armel because it felt the proposed development had too many issues with density, traffic, parking and hydrology.
But the OLT decision ruled the concerns of council were being addressed, or would be addressed, in the proposal and that the proposal does not violate the city’s Growth Plan or Official Plan.
“The Tribunal has considered all information that the Parties have provided and is satisfied that the scale and built form proposed by the Appellant on the Subject Lands are appropriate for the area and compatible with the existing and evolving context of the area,” the ruling says.
The 17.3-acre site has 190 metres of frontage on Paisley Road and 480 metres of frontage on Whitelaw Road.
“The core issue in contention for the hearing of the merits revolved around density, scale of development on the Subject Site, and the height of a number of proposed buildings,” said the OLT's written decision. “Both Parties acknowledged the Subject Site is appropriate for development and has the designated land use allowing for growth and development currently.”
The tribunal found council didn’t offer any technical evidence to support its rejection of the original application and in fact ignored its own staff’s recommendation, which was based on technical evidence.
“The Tribunal finds that the opinion provided by Mr. Handy (Hugh Handy, one of Armel’s expert witnesses) that Council’s concerns regarding density, traffic, hydrology and reduced parking were in fact addressed through various studies before Council, including Traffic Impact Study, Hydrogeological Study and various others that supported the approval of the Proposal,” reads the decision.
Last February, mayor Cam Guthrie and councillors Cathy Downer and Bob Bell voted in favour of the developer’s application. Dominique O’Rourke, Mike Salisbury, Christine Billings, June Hofland, Phil Alt, Rodrigo Goller, James Gordon and Leanne Piper voted against. Absent that night were Dan Gibson and Mark MacKinnon.
