Council denies rezoning for apartment house

City councillors turned down a rezoning on Monday that would have legalized a triplex on Crawford Drive because the building is in a floodplain.

The two-storey house is at 793 Crawford Dr. (on the south side of Crawford, where it intersects with Erskine Avenue.) It was built in 1974 as a two-storey duplex, later converted into a triplex when an owner added a basement apartment without a building permit.

The city received a complaint in June 2014 about the illegal basement apartment, and the concerns haven’t been resolved — even though the building changed hands in 2018.

Owners Mike and Darlene Cahill have building permits from the city to add fire sprinklers and water meters on the property, and to replace the basement window as well as two balconies (on the ground floor and second floor).

On Monday, Cahill and his planner, Kevin Duguay, asked for a rezoning to legalize the triplex even though it’s in a floodplain.

But city staff didn’t recommend that because Otonabee Conservation reviewed the plan and points out that the property is “wholly within” the floodplains of both the Byersville Creek and the Otonabee River, and that is ever there were a flood the building would be inaccessible by car or on foot.

East City apartments

City councillors gave preliminary approval for four new apartment buildings in East City, on vacant land on Hunter Street East. Ashburnham Realty is planning the buildings, which will have up to 97 units. City staff recommends approval for the plans but wants council to have a final look at details before construction can happen.

Brealey Drive apartments

Councillors gave preliminary approval for a new 18-unit apartment building on the northeast corner of Brealey Drive and Sir Sandford Fleming Drive.

A company called Life at Brealey Drive is already building 14 townhouses and a two-storey, 18-unit apartment building there. But now the company wants to buy an additional slice of surplus land from the church to add yet another two-storey, 18-unit apartment building.

That will bring the total number of new townhouses and apartment on the property to 50, states a city staff report.