A highrise proposal gets push back
Church worries about intensification
This letter was presented to the planning and Development Committee of Hamilton, and is offered to Spectator readers who are concerned about the future development and changing atmosphere of our city.
It is presented on behalf of the Romanian Orthodox Church of the Holy Resurrection and its parishioners, and the entire Romanian community of Hamilton of approximately 10,000 citizens.
Our research has revealed that Romanian immigrants began to arrive in Canada around the beginning of the 19th century, with the majority settling in the industrial area of Hamilton’s east end. A Romanian organization called Gloria was established in 1905 and in 1916 the first Romanian Orthodox Church was built at 54 Wallace Avenue.
The present church at 278 MacNab St. North was built in 1960. Following are our objections to the proposed building at 282 MacNab St. North. The major construction of the foundation that would be required to support a multilevel building, even with the present bylaw requirement of four feet from a neighbouring building, would put the foundation and structure of our building at great risk of damage and reducing this to two feet is ridiculous. We would like to make you aware of the fact that we recently installed several upgrades, such as new windows and floors, also many religious mural paintings on the walls, which would all be prone to cracks and other damage caused by vibration during construction. The proposed multilevel building would overshadow the windows, resulting in loss of light.
The view of our beautiful church in the middle of a picturesque residential neighbourhood in the central north end of the city would be hidden and almost obliterated by an overbearing, multilevel building next door. Another proposal for a similar building across the street at 41 Stuart St. would also destroy the character of the quiet neighbourhood.
Our Parish maintains the buildings on three properties within one block of the subject lots. Together with the residents on the adjoining streets we strongly protest and object to multilevel buildings in our area. Inevitably the requested zoning change would result in a growing wave of more such buildings which would destroy the appearance of central Hamilton.
Besides the risk of damage to our building the existing shortage of parking on neighbouring streets would be increased to meet the needs of residents of the buildings and their visitors. Also there have been protests from residents who are concerned about not only the parking shortage but the increase in traffic. This will inevitably result in more accidents, endangering the lives of children, cyclists and everyone else that walks to businesses and the waterfront. The visual impact of the proposed development would be ugly and in contrast to the existing neighbourhood and a loss of the beautiful venues of the waterfront and residential areas.
We support the planning department in its attempts to encourage building to accommodate Hamilton’s increasing population, but there are many other vacant spaces and former industrial areas that would satisfy this need.
The proposed development is in direct contravention of the decision of the 2012 OMB that approved the West Harbour (Setting Sail) Plan. Therefore any amendment to the zoning of this section of the city would undermine the OMB decision and set a bad planning precedent for our community. Submitted by George Donison, honorary president of the Parish Council