Caledonia residents oppose proposed 9-storey building in their neighbourhood

Featured image for Caledonia residents oppose proposed 9-storey building in their neighbourhood

By Mike Renzella

The Haldimand Press

CALEDONIA—A group of concerned residents has penned a four-page letter to Haldimand County opposing a proposed zoning amendment that would allow for the construction of a nine-storey, 134-unit apartment building in the middle of their Caledonia neighbourhood.

The proposal, submitted by DICO developments, is looking to rezone a wooded area located between Cayuga Street and McClung Road from its current designation, ‘R1-A’, which stipulates that only single-unit detached dwellings can be constructed on the land, to ‘R6’, which permits apartment buildings up to eight storeys tall. The proponent is seeking a further site-specific amendment to push that height to nine storeys.

The letter requests that the County “reject any application to amend the current zoning.” Currently, the neighbourhood surrounding the location consists of nine single-detached homes, housing 20 adults and 10 children. 

Advertisement

 

The letter states that the building, if approved, would “become the tallest and most population-dense building in all of Haldimand County, destroying the existing integrity of the architectural landscape that residents and visitors find so appealing.”

While the residents who penned the letter concede that the lot is indeed a “prime property to expand and build,” they state that they will not support anything larger than a three-storey building or a series of semi-detached homes being built there: “This would support the current landscape and address the main concerns we have related to this application.” 

The residents also fear that placing a nine-storey building in their neighbourhood will have a devastating impact on the value of their homes. The letter mentioned a previous attempt to develop the land with four single-family homes was not approved at the time, and asserted, “It would be both highly contradictory and counterintuitive to approve rezoning that would allow for condominiums.”

DICO Developments previously built The Jackson, a new five-storey condo in Hagersville, but the residents stated, “We trust that Council will realize these projects, although similar in design, are vastly different in nature and that this type of building would be an abomination to the landscape of this area of Caledonia. We therefore vehemently oppose it.”

Residents also have a series of safety concerns related to the proposal, primarily stemming from an increase in traffic, noting how nearby McClung Road has already been red flagged as an area of concern due to traffic and speeding risks.

“By adding 134 residential units, we believe that it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured, or worse. We also are concerned about traffic congestion as there are limitations on what can be done to McClung Road in order to avoid the congestion that would certainly occur should the application be approved, further exacerbating community concern about road safety,” said the letter.

Other concerns from the group include a rise in crime and vandalism due to increased population density, privacy concerns, higher demand on first responders in the community, noise pollution during construction, light pollution from required parking and streetlights, impacts to gardens and trees in the area due to sunlight being blocked, and the dirt and dust generated by the development.

The letter claims that DICO Developments has arranged to meet with residents on two separate occasions to discuss the matter, but did not follow through on the meetings.

The proposal was set for discussion at Council this week, past our publication deadline, but we reached out to the County and Ward 3 Councillor Dan Lawrence for their initial thoughts on the proposal and the residents’ concerns.

“As the Ward Councillor, I am aware of the proposal, have some significant concerns about density, height, traffic, and other matters, but I will follow the process and wait until a staff report with a fulsome analysis comes back to Council,” said Lawrence.

  When asked if Haldimand residents can expect more developments of this nature moving forward, Lawrence said he would not speculate: “I will state that if anything similar comes to County staff, each will be examined on its merits, how it fits and affects an existing area of proposal.”

Haldimand’s Manager of Planning and Development Shannon Van Dalen said that the residents’ concerns, and any further concerns that arise during Council debate on the matter, will be shared with the proponent.

“The input will make up a critical part of the evaluation of the proposed application. Staff will continue to work with the proponent and the public to work towards an appropriate development proposal,” she added.

Van Dalen said that despite the concerns, buildings of this nature can assist the County in satisfying growth targets as defined by the provincial government, as well as the County’s goal of providing varied forms of housing to residents. However, she noted that before moving forward, the project would need to be evaluated on the value it brings to the neighbourhood and municipality as a whole: “If the development were to proceed as proposed, it would be the tallest residential building within Haldimand County.”

   She said that providing access to various housing forms at various levels of affordability is a “need and desire” for options that “better align with the variety of accommodation needs and price points.”

She noted that if the proposal moves forward in its current form, the County would work to ensure it fits into the character of its surrounding neighbourhood through a number of measures, including size and scale, amenity space, building setback and massing, access and traffic movements, pedestrian connections, shadowing, servicing, landscape and buffering, and design elements/features.

It is unlikely, however, that such efforts will appease the concerns of the residents surrounding the lot. 

“The undersigned purchased our properties never conceiving that such a concerning zoning application would be submitted. Some of us have lived here 20, 30, and 50 years with intent on raising our children and families in a safe, quiet, rural, single-dwelling community,” concluded their letter. “Some of us have dedicated our lives to volunteering our time throughout these decades to enriching this same community. We are all long-standing members of Caledonia.”