.jpg;w=960)
With taller buildings now allowed in much of Downtown Guelph, as high as 23-storeys, the area’s density is set to increase … and that pleases Mayor Cam Guthrie.
“I think we absolutely need more density and height in the downtown core, I’ve been saying that for years,” he told GuelphToday, ahead of a planned briefing from city staff on the impact of the province’s changes. “The province is clearly seeing the demand for living in downtown cores, wanting to have more people frequenting and living in our downtown with less cars near a central transit station.
“These are all the exact types of urban planning for the future that cities should be embracing.”
Those comments follow Wednesday’s announcement of changes made to the city’s official plan by the provincial government. There were 18 of them in all, including increasing the maximum height downtown to 23 storeys in must areas. The previous upset limit was 18 storeys, in limited spots.
The changes cannot be appealed.
Having more people living downtown will “bring it to life,” Guthrie said, pointing to efforts to establish all-day, two-way GO trains to and from Toronto and Thursday’s announcement that Conestoga College has bought the Co-operators’ building with plans to renovate and open a new campus there.
“That’s exactly where you want more people to be living because coupled with the decision about going higher in height was also the decision to reduce parking minimums, which is what I’ve been advocating for as well,” said Guthrie. “We’re becoming a mature city and we need to embrace what has been decided for us by the province.”
Members of Guelph Wellington Developers Association own several properties in the downtown core and are eager to learn more about the changes and how it impacts their sites, said Ian Panabaker, executive board member.
“It’s early days yet to know what actually has happened,” he said. “We need to get our minds around what the 23 storeys actually means.”
There are still a variety of policies in place that can impact the height of developments, he noted, such as setback requirements and shadow-casting regulations.
While “not so much opposed” to having 23-storey buildings downtown, Coun. Cathy Downer isn’t happy with the way it came to be permitted and worries it will “significantly change the character” of Downtown Guelph.
“There are significant modifications that look more like ministerial zoning orders rather than modifications to an official plan,” she said, also ahead of the staff briefing. “I mean, to change most of the downtown to 23 storeys completely throws out the secondary plan which talks about transitions, and all the work that was done.
“The secondary plan we had kind of transitioned nicely the height, three to six storeys in those areas … and we had the higher heights in the centre of the downtown. To just have it carte blanche in most of the downtown, I see as really sad.
“There’s no real planning there, it’s just ‘let’s open this up,’ so that’s disappointing.”
Creation of the council-approved downtown secondary plan involved an opportunity for public comment, as did the Guelph Innovation District secondary plan, which also saw some provincial changes.
Among them is a reduction in the quantity of employment land and an increase in residential.
“The downtown community and the GID land were carefully planned with public input,” said Downer.
Guthrie and Downer agree the next big hurdle that needs to be addressed is whether there’s water and wastewater treatment capacity to support increased downtown density.
“That is probably going to be something we have to really understand, how we’re going to be able to service … for that height and density increase,” the mayor said. “That will certainly reflect on servicing in the downtown core.”
“I don’t think they (province) have any idea of the consequences of this either,” added Downer. “If this is happening in Guelph, I’m sure it’s happening elsewhere.
“We’re left to deal with the consequences.”
