More towers sent to tribunal for approval
A developer has asked a provincial tribunal to approve 13 residential towers at King and Weber streets, the latest big housing project to bypass city-led planning.
Since 2022, owners of six properties have asked the Ontario Land Tribunal to approve 40 highrises planned in Waterloo. Heights range from six to 35 storeys.
If approved and built, the towers with 9,460 units could house more than 14,000 people to help Waterloo move past its housing slump.
“We would prefer for everyone, for the developers and the city’s sake, to go through the stipulated planning process,” Mayor Dorothy McCabe said, citing the process by which city hall approves new housing. “I think that’s better in terms of building the trust that we have with residents, trust with city hall and council as well as the development community.”
Elsewhere across Kitchener and Cambridge, property owners have put just seven residential towers before the tribunal in similar circumstances. The tribunal is an independent body that rules on planning disputes.
The Waterloo Region Home Builders’ Association is concerned to see more housing put before the tribunal.
“It’s obviously a concern to the association because planning applications are best dealt with by the municipal councils responsible,” said association president Larry Masseo, an urban planner.
“As soon as it goes to a tribunal, that decision comes out of the community. However, on balance, the tribunal is there and exists to assist local planning matters that are at an impasse.”
McCabe said city hall is not obstructing development or refusing to expedite new housing.
“Our staff work very diligently with the developers to build developments that are going to stand the test of time,” she said. “We want them to look good. We want them to function well.”
Development applications in Waterloo are complex, she said, and the province has made numerous changes to the planning process.
McCabe refused campaign donations from developers in her 2022 election campaign, saying she wanted to guard against any expectations that might be tied to a contribution. “I have never been antidevelopment,” she said. “There’s certainly no anti-development strain on council.”
City council has not rejected any of the 40 towers put before the land tribunal.
Property owners sent 28 towers to the tribunal ahead of a council decision, saying city hall took too long to decide. Developer Richard Boyer, of Solowave Investments, has appealed conditions placed by council on 12 towers approved by city hall.
Boyer’s advocate, lawyer Jennifer Meader, described city-imposed planning conditions as inflexible, overly prescriptive, problematic and unnecessary.
The latest Waterloo highrise plan sent to the tribunal proposes to redevelop a commercial plaza and vacant land at King Street North and Weber Street North.
A numbered company submitted plans to city hall last April for 13 towers, ranging from six to 35 storeys. The project remains unapproved after city hall held a public meeting in June. A neighbourhood meeting followed in September.
The owner asked the tribunal to decide after city hall took too long, according to planning consultant Trevor Hawkins, acting for the developer.
Provincial legislation requires municipalities to decide on such projects within 120 days. It’s a planning timeline city hall struggles to meet.
However, putting a project before the tribunal does not appear to speed approvals. Records show the tribunal put three Waterloo towers under review for 18 months at Bridgeport Road East and Devitt Avenue North, before approving them in January after city hall and the developer negotiated a settlement.
City hall is not getting in the way of more housing, said Kevin Thomason, of the grassroots group Smart Growth Waterloo Region. He figures developers are “weaponizing” the land tribunal to get approvals they want.
“It’s awful and egregious,” he said. “The bottom line is this province has already relaxed the rules and relaxed the rules and relaxed the rules so much. And yet no matter how much you give, some people always want more. And so I think this is just an abuse.”
Thomason wants more residential towers built and says city hall should plan for them. “The danger is it’s suddenly taken out of our local hands, at the whim or mercy of some distant tribunal which may or may not be in the best public interest,” he said.
Waterloo development applications are often complex which complicates planning, he said.
Factors include the conversion of former industrial land, a high water table in places, and infill challenges in a city that is almost out of undeveloped land for new housing.
City council has pledged to add 16,000 homes by 2031 to address a housing shortage that has escalated rents and costs and contributes to homelessness. However, construction is starting on new homes at just over half the required pace.