Neighbours raise concerns about new north-end apartments

Three new apartment buildings will likely be built across Water St. from the zoo, now that councillors have given preliminary approval to the plan - even though some neighbours have concerns.

A local developer is proposing to build the four-storey buildings on a piece of vacant land at 1341 Water St. (just east of Carnegie Ave).

Triple T Holdings Inc. is planning a total of 96 new apartments. The building design is from Trevelyan Architects Inc.

On Monday at City Hall, councillors gave preliminary approval to a request for rezoning on the property. The vote needs ratification at a council meeting next week.

The new development would be built beside another existing townhouse community and just east of new a newer condominium complex that’s accessed from Centre Line.

A city fire station is also located nearby.

The land was a quarry back in 1966 and has been undeveloped since, city planner Carolyn Kimble told councillors.

The property was conveyed from Smith Township to the city in 2008, states a staff report, and it needs to be rezoned from rural to residential to allow construction to begin.

Two neighbours – Judy Vye and Steve Ash – told councillors they have concerns about the proposed development.

They live in a neighbourhood of single-family homes that’s accessed via University Heights Dr., and backs onto the proposed new development.

Ash said he was concerned about increasing noise that will be created by construction; it will also likely create noise when people live in the development.

Vye said the new development will chase away all kinds of wildlife from the area, plus it will make it noisy for the seniors who already live nearby in the quiet neighbourhood.

“Car doors slamming, people talking – everything we’re not used to,” Vye said.

The noise and dirt of construction is another concern for people living in the quiet area, she said.

She also asked the city to put a restriction on the buildings so students from Trent University don’t live there, but Kimble later said the city can’t zone to exclude any tenants based on age.

Bill Turner of Triple T Holdings Inc. said later they will build with senior tenants in mind.

“We typically cater to retired folks,” he said.

He also said he had an environmental study of the property and found no particular concerns for wildlife, and that he’d be happy to sit down with neighbours to discuss how to mitigate noise from the development.

Coun. Dean Pappas asked that another public meeting be convened to allow neighbours to speak with the developer about the plans, and councillors approved that idea.

Coun. Andrew Beamer said a public meeting held in February was well-attended by neighbours, most of whom had concerns about the site plan for the new development.

He agreed that another public meeting should be held to give people input once the site plan has taken shape.