A proposed development for the land surrounding the Guelph Curling Club was put under the microscope Monday night at City Council.
Chief Holdings wants to put 195 residential units on the property surrounding the Guelph Curling Club at 816 Woolwich St. on the city's northern fringe. The curling club would remain where it is.
Development of the property has been in the works since 2014, when an original proposal for 31 three-storey townhouses and four commercial buildings came forward. Five years later the proposal has changed to 195 stacked townhouse units on the 9.6-acre parcel of land.
There would also be 208 surface parking spaces for the units, one mixed-use building approximately 1,600 square-metres in size with 97 parking spaces and a 784 square-metre office building with 23 parking spaces.
"We see opportunity in this area to provide something that's of a different mix," said planner David Aston on behalf of the developer.
Aston pointed out that much of the residential development nearby is high density apartments.
Directly north of the development is Marymount Cemetery. Next is the Ignatius Jesuit Centre.
Lisa Calzonetti, Director of Operations at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre, said they had concerns about the number of people that the development would bring.
"We are afraid that the land would be abused, quite frankly," Calzonetti said, adding that overuse and noise would be two concerns for the property, which is open to the public.
Mayor Cam Guthrie said he had a hard time understanding how this development impacted the Jesuit centre "when the use is not commercial and you have a buffer of a cemetery."
"What degree is it really an issue?" he asked Calzonetti, adding that he was trying to understand the concerns.
She said it was the "spirit" of the Jesuit centre that might be threatened by the development.
Guthrie wondered if a berm between Walmart and the Jesuit centre could be extended between this development and the adjacent Marymount Cemetery.
Several councillors expressed concerns about the current lack of sidewalks and lack of them in the current plans.
"We've made mistakes in other part of the city before, in regards to not putting sidewalks in," coun. Cathy Downer said, pointing out that people would be walking from the development to nearby shops such as the Canadian Tire plaza and services such as Riverside Park.
The developer said they would look at the sidewalk issues.
Coun. Bob Bell also questioned the amount of green space in the proposal.
"I don't have an issue so much with the density as I do with the landscaping space," Bell said, adding that solid waste collection was also on his mind.
The developer is providing common amenity green space, but it is under what is currently required under the current official plan.
Coun. Rodrigo Goller wondered if the project had enough parking spaces. He said the units will be "high end" dwellings that will likely have couples with two cars living in them. He worried that overflow parking would end up at the curling club, adjacent Walmart plaza and nearby Ignatius Jesuit Centre.Planning staff will be reviewing those concerns as part of their revue of the application.
Coun. James Gordon expressed concerns over the lack of design information for the units.
"I'm uncomfortable trying to make that decision without seeing more what this development might look like," Gordon said.
There were no renderings of the buildings presented Monday.
The city has in the past leased land form the curling club for two ball diamonds and soccer space on the property. They were not booked by the city last year.
Susan Watson said the sports fields are in use all summer and perhaps it's not the city that leases them, but other users.
Watson also felt that longer time was needed for "meaningful public consultation" and that wasn't happening because the developer has had five years to prepare for Monday's meeting while the public had five weeks notice.
There was no decision by council on Monday. Staff will now review the application, take council's concerns, and return to council at a later date with a recommendation.
