Neighbours strongly oppose two developments on Mornington and Huron

An overhead view of the subject lands in the Huron Street proposal, vehemently opposed by a few neighbours during a public meeting for the proposal.

CONNOR LUCZKA, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Dave Messer didn’t mince words about a proposed development near his home on Huron Street.

“I live two doors away from this mess, whatever it’s going to be,” Messer began. “(I’m) trying to stay polite and calm but this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in my life. We’re going to put two big cement blocks in an area that is meant for just normal housing … We have these bylaws that regulate the building of houses and what the neighborhoods are supposed to be like. And we come along with these two big stone monstrosities with no space around them. These people that are building this are just in it for the money.

“I love the neighbourhood. This is going to destroy it,” Messer went on to say.

Messer made those comments at the public meeting portion of the April 14 council meeting, when council and staff heard resident comments about the development at 315 and 317 Huron St. and another development at 672 Mornington St.

As Messer alluded to, the Huron Street development is proposed as two three-storey apartment buildings with 12-units spread throughout. There is limited, if any greenspace due to the need for parking, and the lots currently have a number of old-growth trees that would be taken down. Messer wasn’t the only one who opposed the development and called it incompatible with the current neighbourhood.

Shane Carty, like Messer, expressed incredulity that such a proposal was on the table at all. He spoke with some neighbours before the meeting and shared that they all had a laundry list of similar concerns.

“We have concerns about drainage, we have concerns about noise, we have concerns about the height of the buildings. We have concerns about privacy. We have concerns about healthy trees being cut down so that we can put down a parking lot. That's a big concern,” Carty said. “… Why are we putting two buildings into a space that should hold one? It doesn't make any sense.

“I think it's unconscionable. My neighbors may disagree with me, but I think it's absolutely unconscionable to let something like this (be). Because all this is is about someone making a profit.”

The Mornington development, which is currently a proposed 123-unit subdivision, likewise saw opposition at the meeting.

Many neighbours expressed concern with the lack of parkland being proposed, the removal of trees, and how the development would affect their own properties. Donna Castle said she was worried about water management and possible flooding that may spill over onto her home, for instance, and Kelvin Martin said that, among other concerns, he does not know who the developer is and could not find information online about them – which is a red flag.

“I'm curious as to whether they are a land purchaser who is going to then engage a development company or a construction company to do it on their behalf,” Martin said. “And if that's true, I'd like to sort of know what the history of this particular developer's history is on actions of this similar nature in development of land.”

Aliyah Richards, a land use planner speaking on behalf of the applicant, said that she could not share the personal details of the applicant in such a meeting.

No decision was made on the developments at the public meeting. The matter will be before council for a decision on the proposed zone changes at a later date.