ELORA – After over a year of back and forth, developers have been given the go-ahead to move forward with a four-storey development on the south side of East Mill Street.
Council followed staff recommendations to permit a four-storey mixed-use development at 19 and 19A East Mill Street during a Centre Wellington council meeting Monday afternoon "to help to increase the supply of residential units and provide additional commercial uses in the community."
Located in the Elora/Salem Urban Centre, a report on the application said the proposed development will consist of 18 residential units and three commercial units with a separate restaurant within an existing heritage building to be rehabilitated.
While the development was previously proposed to be five storeys, a complete application redesign has expanded the building's footprint while reducing the height and maintaining the proposed original number of residential units and ground floor commercial spaces.
The building's colour palette was also darkened and the third and fourth storeys are now stepped back to "improve pedestrian perception of massing."
There will be 22 residential parking spots underground below the condo building and 11 surface parking spaces for commercial use.
Planners said these changes are directly the result of residents sharing concerns about the proposed development's height and massing, as well as its potential to block river views, increase traffic and cause further parking struggles for residents at a public meeting held in June 2023.
Councillors shared support for the new design and how it "compliments" Elora's "unique diversity of housing" when it was presented during a council meeting on May 27.
Council also confirmed no further public notice or meeting was required to discuss the recent application changes.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
