Now that Cambridge has approved a 37-storey condominium tower in downtown Galt, at least one councillor believes proposals to build even taller structures are in the city’s future.
Prior to Tuesday’s decision to approve the Cambridge Mill project, council supported a recommendation to move to the public consultation stage of developing the Galt Core Area Height Guidelines in conjunction with the Galt Core Heritage Conservation District Plan.
During that discussion, Coun. Jan Liggett told her colleagues around the horseshoe that she’s skeptical about an assertion made by principal urban design planner Michael Sraga.
Sraga, who works for The Planning Partnership, the company hired by the city to come up with the height guidelines, told council he doesn’t think the local market would support high rises taller than those currently on the books.
“We believe this market is never going to have a 50 storey tall building,” Sraga told council in response to concerns there are no height limits mentioned in the first draft of the document.
“Tall buildings aren’t bad,” Sraga said, adding that a building that was 30 storeys would not have a negative impact on the surrounding area and would benefit surrounding businesses and new businesses.
“There’s nothing intrinsically bad with a tall building. And to put a height limit would be an artificial constraint which I don’t think would be supportable if it was ever appealed.”
But Liggett and other councillors disagreed.
“I’m really concerned we’re kind of sending the message out to the public that any height can go here,” she said.
The city needs the height guidelines as developers line up to bring residential projects to the core, helping Cambridge meet its growth targets required by the province and region to support Stage 2 of the LRT.
Those growth targets peg a minimum density of 160 people per hectare in Galt’s core.
Long term projections see 9,090 people and jobs in the urban growth centre of Galt by 2051 when density reaches 230 people and jobs per hectare.
Preserving key views along the river and protecting the city’s heritage resources are part of it, which is why the draft height guidelines look to four areas on the periphery where tall buildings wouldn’t obstruct views or interfere with heritage buildings.
The areas with no limit on building heights are identified in the draft guideline and include the Cambridge Mill development on Water Street North, running north and south of Park Hill Road, vacant space bordered by Kerr and Shade street where a plan to build 24-storey and 30-storey apartment towers is awaiting approval, the area surrounding Gaslight District on Grand Avenue, and along Water Street south before the Concession Street bridge.
Sraga said the guideline considers the compatibility of taller buildings with adjacent neighbourhoods with a goal to maintain the character and fabric of the heritage portions of the core area.
Development is kept fairly low in those areas with mid rise buildings and transitions toward taller developments on the periphery.
“They’re removed far enough from heritage districts to not have an effect on the skyline,” he said.
The city’s chief planner, Lisa Prime, told council the height guideline provides flexibility in those key areas, which are kept at distance from cultural areas downtown and sensitive areas the city is looking to protect.
But Michelle Goodridge, speaking on behalf of the Cambridge chapter of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, told council the group is “alarmed” there are no height restrictions in those four zones.
“We feel that this type of development is detrimental to the community on many fronts including heritage, the environment, livable cities, public health and affordable housing,” she said, referring to “world renowned” architect Jan Gehl’s article on how high rises kill liveability.
Goodridge said high rises separate people from the street, "creating a micro city in the sky that discourages civic engagement and creates gated communities."
“Pedestrians get lost in the sea of metal and glass,” she said, adding any building over six stories results in a loss of human scale and the gentrification it creates does nothing to address the lack of affordable housing.
She also believes high rises use over twice as much energy per square meter than mid rise structures, they keep children and the elderly from getting exercise because of the effort needed to get outside, and they result in more deaths during heat waves because of the heat island effect they cause.
“This council is continually using the Places To Grow act to push through unsympathetic development,” Goodridge said, urging council to consider a height guideline similar to Guelph which protects important view corridors related to the Basilica of Our Lady.
The church spire at Central Presbyterian is 56 metres tall, she said, equates to about 18 stories, and is an important landmark in the river view that needs to be preserved.
“We need to be extremely cautious about the heights proposed,” agreed Coun. Nick Ermetta, adding he would like to see more attention given to the impacts on views around the river.
“I’m very unhappy with the lack of a maximum height limit,” Liggett said, adding she thinks it’s wrong to go forward with the message that “we’re open season for any height.”
But Coun. Scott Hamilton said he understands the need to get more people living in Galt’s core and agrees with the idea of putting taller buildings in areas where it won’t impact heritage or the river.
“If we want to achieve density, we have to have people living somewhere,” he said. “Change is always difficult but in this case I think it’s much needed.”
“It scares me to have no rules and no limits,” countered Coun. Mike Devine.
That prompted Coun. Pam Wolf to remind council that they were discussing a draft height guideline and consultation with the public will follow.
“If there’s something you don’t like in the report, we can still work with that,” she said.
“In terms of density I think we have to remember that we are in one of the highest growth areas in Canada,” Wolf said, adding the only way homes will become more affordable in Cambridge is to create more places for people to live.
“We need to go up,” she said.
