Somersert Ward Coun. Diane Holmes has raised concern over the city’s recent approval of two condominium applications because of limited built-in parking.
Domicile Construction Inc. is building an 18-storey condo on Rochester Street and Claridge Homes is building a 30-storey condo on Somerset Street.
“The planning department is agreeing to reduce the visitor parking and agreeing to allow the public parking out on the street to be used as visitor parking for these condominium towers,” says Holmes.
This is not the first time Centretown has seen developers use public parking as a way to avoid providing their own visitor parking spaces in these developments according to Holmes.
“This is what happened on Laurier Avenue and then – surprise, surprise –there is no more parking on Laurier Avenue. You do use up the public parking, and it is giving the developer who doesn’t want to pay the costs public parking . . . We can’t be giving away public parking to these developers,” adds Holmes.
“The trend seems to be that developers are putting less visitor parking into these buildings . . . we would like to see the city do an extensive study of parking in Centretown,” says Robert Dekker, vice-president of the Centretown Citizens Community Association. “There is a real lack of foresight.”
While some residents are clearly opposed to the developments, there are locals that are fine with the new condominiums, according to Holmes.
“There are certainly some members of the community who would prefer the nine-storey to the 18-storey (proposal), but generally the consensus is, in order to protect the low-rise housing on the side streets off Preston, that the community is willing to take height (on busier, high-traffic streets). I think most people feel that the 18-storey can be lived with,” says Holmes.
Despite the contentious reaction from some residents towards the development, Holmes says there are some positive aspects to the new condominium.
The project will include a La Bogetta grocery store that will help strengthen Little Italy with Italian products, according to Holmes.
“The development also has a very nice plaza that will really help Rochester Street, especially if we can get outdoor patios along there,” she adds.
Representatives from Domicile Developments and Claridge Homes declined to comment.
“There has to be something done within the city to say that, yes, we want to make sure we have the proper levels of visitor parking built into every single development that goes in,” adds Dekker.