Student townhouse proposal ‘tipping point’ for Lower Doon

A land use appeal to permit a stacked townhouse development that would accommodate up to 175 students is being referred to as a “tipping point” for permanent homeowners in Kitchener’s Lower Doon neighbourhood.

“This development will probably be the last straw,” said Margaret Harding, a Pinnacle Drive resident who delivered a tearful presentation at an Ontario Municipal Board legacy hearing this week, illustrating the slow deterioration of her neighbourhood that’s being overrun by students.

The proposal just down the street from Conestoga College would put 47 townhouse units up to 13 metres high behind homes on Doon Valley Drive, Durham Street and Amherst Drive. It was rejected by city council last year despite a planning staff recommendation to approve it.

A three-day hearing this week at Kitchener City Hall dealt with an OMB appeal filed last May by Owl Properties Inc. for the vacant 0.7-hectare parcel located at 69 Amherst Drive.

Lawyers on behalf of Owl say the company worked closely with external agencies to address issues raised throughout the planning process, and that city council’s refusal doesn’t conform with provincial and regional growth plans and detailed reasoning and analysis from its own staff.

The notice of appeal says the decision fails to recognize that the development “is compatible with adjacent uses and the character of the neighbourhood.” But residents who are part of a citizens committee believe there’s a chance to save their neighbourhood from further destruction and completely turning into what many already refer to as a student ghetto.

The issue is a “massive one” for the Lower Doon community, according to Daryl Howes-Jones, who along with Randall Martin represented citizens as the official parties opposing the development.

Howes-Jones said the OMB decision expected later this year will be precedent-setting. If the development is permitted, what’s left of the neighbourhood will go down as a result.

“My fear is Lower Doon as we know it will cease to exist,” said resident Scott Murray, later referring to it as “a three-ring circus already.”

In their presentations before Local Planning Appeal Tribunal vice-chair Jyoti Zuidema, residents presented photos, emails, maps, newspaper stories and tenancy agreements, among