A group of Centretown residents wants to see an application shot down for a James Street triplex that would benefit under the city’s newly quashed “cash-in-lieu-of-parking” policy.
The policy allowed developers to pay the city in exchange for not providing parking spaces at new buildings. Council voted to put an end to the policy on July 17, just one day after developer Jordan Tannis submitted the application for 186 James St. Still, completed applications received by the city prior to July 10 will be processed.
The property is currently a single-family triplex, but Tannis plans to convert it into a multi-unit apartment building. The existing front of the building will be maintained, but a new addition will be constructed on the side. Units will be a combination of single, two-bedroom, and bachelor suites.
The opposition group, Friends of James and Bay, is concerned that not providing parking spaces for the building’s new tenants will force more residents to park on the street, leading to overcrowding, especially in the winter.
“The parking already in the area is saturated,” said the group’s Robert Brando, at a Wednesday public meeting at the McNabb Community Centre. University students are out right now, he said, so on-street parking is not as dense. “But come back in December, come back in January.”
A July 16 application submitted to the city says the low-rise apartment building will include 15 units. But architect Robert Martin said last night that the renovated house will have 10 apartments and two parking spaces, rather than the usual five for a 10-unit building. The new complex will include bike spaces, however.
“One of the characteristics of this and other inner-city neighbourhoods,” said Martin, “is that they represent the epitome of liveable, walkable, bikeable neighbourhoods, and we want to encourage that kind of living.”
Residents are upset they were not consulted earlier and have questioned the validity of the application.
“We wonder why on the last day of the program, this application was rammed through,” said Brando, “presumably without all the steps being followed.”
For example, the application specifically asks if the ward councillor – Diane Holmes –and community organizations were consulted. They weren’t, concedes the application.
Brando said the group also wants a list of the development’s planned deviations from bylaws, if there are any.
Darrin Cohen, Holmes’ assistant, said the councillor objected to the original application and had requested that the application go to council, instead of city staff making the decision on its own.
The official comment period ends Friday, but Natalie Persaud, of the city planning department, said residents can provide input until the application goes to the planning committee in October and then to the full council.