GUELPH — A proposal for 486 dwelling units in the form of townhouses and apartments has been proposed by Fusion Homes and Gamma Developers Ltd. The proposal will receive a decision on November 6, 2023, at an upcoming council meeting for requested zoning and Official Plan amendments.
The subject lands are 855 and 927 Victoria Road South, at the northwest corner of Victoria Road South and MacAlister Boulevard, with an approximate area of 4.83 hectares (north and southern parcels combined).
The proposal process has been ongoing since 2018, with minor tweaks to the application, including trail realignment, building realignment, unit count, amenity space, and landscaping.
The development application for the subject lands was discussed in one public meeting in 2019, where many city sta ffand neighbours raised concerns about traffic for the development proposal because of the high unit count.
Also, the number of dwelling units has changed over the years as the developers made increases to the proposal in 2022. The increase in units brought the total up to 497 units, then a year later, in April 2023, to 489 dwelling units. In July, a final decrease in the unit number leaves the proposal at 486.
The subject lands are designated as “Significant Natural Areas and Natural Areas,” “Medium Density Residential,” and “High Density Residential,” as stated in the Official Plan.
Part of the subject lands is currently zoned “Agricultural” (A) Zone in the Township of Puslinch Zoning By-law 19/85.
A Zoning amendment to rezone that specific portion of the subject lands is requested as: “Specialized Residential Cluster Townhouse” (R.3A-?) Zone, a “Specialized High Density Apartment” (R.4B-?) Zone and the “Conservation Land” (P.1) Zone in the City of Guelph 1995 Comprehensive Zoning By-law (1995)-14864, as amended” is stated in the staff report.
Also, Gamma Developments and Fusion Homes are requesting to remove holding provisions on the current zones: “Medium Density Residential 6 with Holding Provisions” (RM.6(H12)) Zone, “High Density Residential 7 with Holding Provisions” (RH.7(H12)) Zone and the “Natural Heritage System” (NHS) Zone in the 2023 Comprehensive Zoning By-law (2023)-20790, as amended” as stated in the staff report.
Several site-specific provisions are requested for the two properties.
The site-specific provisions vary across the subject lands. Examples include but are not limited to allowing an increase in density, a decrease in the required parking spaces, and a decrease in the required unit width for the cluster townhouses from the required 6m to 5.4m.
Density requirements range across the properties, depending on the area’s zone, and for the subject lands, four zones are proposed.
The northern property is the Residential Townhouse (R.3A) Zone and Medium Density Residential (RM.6) Zone. These two zones permit the cluster and stacked townhouses.
The density allowance for cluster townhouses is 37.5 units per hectare. For stacked townhouses, it is 60 units per hectare, which increases by 1 unit for every 6 required spaces provided underground up to a maximum of 75 units per hectare. As well, the medium density allows up to 100 units per hectare.
The development proposal requests a site-specific provision combining both zones’ densities, allowing up to 110 units per hectare on the overall northern site.
The second site is a High-Density Apartment (R.4B) Zone and High-Density Residential (RH.7) Zone. These zones permit apartment buildings and back-to-back stacked townhouses and up to 150 units per hectare for the two zones.
The development proposal provides 150 units per hectare for both zones. The proposal also requests to combine these two zone densities and consider the site as a whole using a site-specific provision.
City Staff made the staff report for this application available to the public on Friday, October 27, 2023.
The staff report has city staff recommending approval for the project, indicating that the application for amendments should receive approval at an upcoming Council meeting on November 6, 2023.
The revised proposal on the northern parcel of land includes cluster and stacked townhouses of 3-storeys, and the southern parcel includes two 10-storey apartment buildings and 4-storey back-to-back stacked townhouses.
The application includes units on both parcels of land with 303 apartment units, 159 stacked townhouses (84 of which will be back-to-back), and 24 cluster townhouses.
The proposal includes 546 parking spaces for residents and visitors for both properties in the form of surface and structured parking spaces.
A ratio of 1.0 spaces per dwelling unit for residents and 0.20 for visitors is required for the proposed townhouse zoning, the northern parcel of land owned by Fusion Homes. In the application, Fusion Homes proposes 121 parking spaces for visitors and residents, totalling a ratio of 1.22, meeting the zoning requirements.
On the southern parcel of land owned by Gamma Developments, a parking ratio of 1.25 (387 spaces) is required for the apartment buildings, of which 77 must be required for visitors.
In the proposal, Gamma Developments proposes 1.06 parking spaces per dwelling unit for residents and 0.20 for apartment visitors, totalling 322 parking spaces. The ratio combined provides 1.26, requiring a site-specific provision for the apartment building parking to allow for a reduction in spaces.
A parking ratio 1.20 is required (100.8 spaces) for the townhouses on the southern parcel of land. For residents, 1.0 spaces per dwelling unit and for visitors, 0.20 spaces are required.
Gamma Developments proposes 103 residential and visitor parking spaces, exceeding the zoning requirements.
After the Council meeting on November 6, 2023, the city could see a new development one step closer to having shovels in the ground if approved.
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