Renderings of a three-tower development proposed for a sloping property between Water Street South and Highman Avenue weren't good enough to satisfy councillors during a public meeting last night.
During consultation with the developer last week, Mayor Jan Liggett and Ward 6 Coun. Adam Cooper asked the planners to come to the meeting with renderings of the view from Highman Avenue toward two 13-storey towers and a nine-storey tower.
The planning consultant told staff they were unable to provide those renderings in time.
That annoyed the mayor, who said computer modelling should have been able to come up with something in a week.
She then called for a deferral of the public meeting.
Council voted 8-1 in favour of the deferral, but not before councillors were critical of the presentation.
The project, from SG Real Estate Developments LP II, is expected to include up to 330 units ranging from one to three bedrooms in size.
The towers would sit over a three storey podium with 417 parking spaces and 117 bicycle spaces. A farmhouse on the property would get repurposed as amenity space.
But most of the discussion centred on what the presentation didn't show.
Cooper pointed out that one of the renderings appeared to misrepresent the reality that roof lines of the 13-storey towers will be seven storeys above the roof lines of homes on Highman Avenue.
"I would admit that that is not the best rendering of the view from Highman," said Mary Lou Tanner, president of NPG Planning Solutions. "The homes on Highman are basically able to look over our seventh floor plinth."
"You say it's not the best angle but that is what you provided to us," said a frustrated Cooper. "We have residents we have to represent and there's simply nothing clear about how this is going to look from the street. We have these pictures that are really of no use to people who live there."
He said he found it too hard to move forward when such important information meant to inform council's decision is missing.
"I can't tell you how disappointed I am that's not here tonight when it was a very, very important request of us," Liggett said.
A letter from one resident appeared to illustrate just how important, with a ruined view and shadows mentioned as top concerns.
"I take great delight in watching the sunrises light up the forest on the opposite side of the Grand River, as well as the painted skies of sunsets and the cyclical changes of the seasons evident in the foliage every year," wrote Marjorie Siertema. "This view feeds my soul, giving me much-needed peace and tranquility, while fostering my mental and emotional wellbeing."
The proposal is adjacent to a five-tower residential development approved by council in 2022.
City manager Hardy Bromberg cautioned council on waiting too long to set the public meeting. Failure to make a decision within a prescribed timeline means the city would have to refund a portion of the fees paid by the developer, he said.
Bromberg said staff will work with the developer to provide the required drawings and set a new date as soon as possible.
