IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: A version of article was originally published by ThoroldToday on August 2.
It was a divided city council last night but in the end a controversial new development in Allanburg was approved.
As ThoroldToday reported, John Lally is looking to build a residential townhouse complex at 2248 Centre Street.
During a June 19 public meeting, the surrounding neighbours voiced their opposition to the project, citing already existing traffic safety issues and a lack of water pressure in the neighbourhood.
After listening to their concerns, Lally announced his intent to revise the proposal, and last night, the new and improved project was presented to city council.
While Lally initially planned to build 15 townhomes, he has now set his sights on 10 units, with a double garage and driveway each. He has also made sure to implement sidewalks and extra parking spaces.
“That’s quite a step for a developer to take,” said Councillor Tim O’Hare. “We know with Bill 23 that these battles that we face are very difficult to win and in most cases are impossible to win. I really have to recognize John for having listened and made these adjustments.”
But some councillors think the onus is on the city to fix some of the existing issues before allowing further development.
“The only thing [the developer] can’t do is solve a water pressure problem,” Councillor Antony Longo said. “Somebody across the street already can’t flush their toilet. I don’t know how this helps anything. We need to solve the issues in the neighbourhood before we allow this intensification.”
The city’s manager of engineering, Sean Dunsmore, explained that he does not believe that the townhouse complex will have a significant impact, regardless of the existing issues in the neighbourhood.
“The water pressure issue out there is a larger issue than just that one localized area,” he told council members. “A small change in the number of houses out there isn’t going to have a very large effect. It will have an effect for sure, but it won’t be a very large effect.”
Dunsmore said that the city will work further on the water pressure issue, and that they've also been working with the Region to reconfigure some of the nearby traffic.
Councillor Longo proposed referring the project back to City Hall staff to give them more time to properly address the concerns first, but that motion was defeated.
In the end, the necessary zoning changes for the project were approved 5-4.
Councillors O’Hare, Ken Sentance, Nella Dekker, Mike De Divitiis, and Mayor Terry Ugulini voted in favour, while all other councillors voted against.
