Belmont Village residents oppose plan for condo tower
One neighbour says proposed 13-storey building would ‘dwarf everything around it’
KITCHENER — For residents living in and around Belmont Village, the community is a unique streetscape with “Main Street” appeal.
The area has a small-town feel with its independent shops, restaurants and cafés. It’s an esthetic that has evolved over years, and they fear its charm will be lost with a proposed 13-storey condo tower at the corner of Belmont Avenue and Glasgow Street.
“We walk that street safely. We greet each other on the sidewalks,” said Deb Bennett, who with her husband Jeff, has lived on Belmont Avenue for 36 years.
“They are all Ma and Pa shops. That is what makes it unique,” she said.
“It will be a looming presence,” said resident Barb Trotter, who’s lived in the neighbourhood for 44 years. “It will dwarf everything around it.”
The Bennetts and the Trotters, along with other concerned residents, say they aren’t opposed to development. They want it to be thoughtful, taking into consideration the character of the neighbourhood.
They would accept a building no higher than eight storeys or 25 metres tall.
Local developer, the Zehr Group, is proposing to build a 13-storey, 49-metre highrise at 660 Belmont Ave. W. on the site of the former Dettmer Tirecraft.
The highrise would be a mix of residential condo units, one- and two-bedrooms, as well as 11,733 square feet (1,090 square metres) of retail space on the ground floor. The proposal could include a grocery store in that space.
Don Zehr, chief executive officer of the Zehr Group who grew up in the neighbourhood and recently moved back to the village, said his goal is to maintain the character of the area which draws pedestrians to its walkable streets and residents to its patios.
Zehr said he wants to see restaurants and “cool retail uses” on the ground floor of the building which will also include a “mews” — an open space between the condo building and the adjacent three-storey office building, which is owned by Zehr Group, where restaurants could spill out onto open-air patios.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions for businesses, Belmont Village was able to thrive last summer with some lanes closed for traffic, allowing patios to take over part of the street. Added features to the public space included hopscotch, teeter-totters and Muskoka chairs where people gathered and played. Zehr said he wants to see more of that.
Planners and architects for the developer say the tower will connect to the Iron Horse Trail with the condo lobby at the back of the building facing the trail. A pedestrian plaza is also slated for the rear of the building.
Residents say they are also worried about increased traffic and issues with parking but at the heart of the controversy remains
its height.
“It’s a behemoth of a building,” said Deb Bennett.
In order for the developer to move ahead, the city must amend both its zoning bylaw and its Official Plan for the area.
City planner Garett Stevenson said the area is listed as an urban corridor with a mixed use designation under the city’s Official Plan.
This means that buildings on the spot can be eight storeys (25 metres) in height. Under the mixed use label, which refers to a combination of residential units and commercial uses, the building height can increase up to 50 per cent, in this case up to 12 storeys (36 metres) in height.
The developer also wants to reduce parking spaces from 145 to 130.
Stevenson said the city’s objective is to increase infill development on these busy corridors while at the same time preserving areas such as Belmont Village.
Stevenson said the city strives to work with the community and the developer, adding additional housing into established neighbourhoods while still satisfying the residents who live around the development.
“It’s a challenge. We want to know what are their concerns and how can they be mitigated,” he said. “Some things we will disagree on.”
Residents say city officials haven’t shared enough information with the community about the development and the lack of transparency feels like the project is in favour of the developer, said Deb Bennett.
“We were in shock with the height of the building and it is almost a given,” she said. “It was a sales pitch for the developer.”
Barb Trotter, who lives on Avondale Avenue, said she’s concerned that the city’s vision of livable communities will be lost when the city planning department “functions as public relations and represents the developer who is making money.”
At a recent public input meeting with residents who live nearby, the city’s director of planning Rosa Bustamante said there had been “several missteps in this application.”
She apologized to those on the zoom call to say that the city had not appropriately answered all concerns residents voiced through recent emails.
“We know how important this application is to residents in the community,” she said. “We are committed to investing the time.”
The project is slated to come before a committee meeting of council later this year.