The Ontario Land Tribunal has given a developer the green light to move forward with a 41-unit condo development at 223 and 227 Mary St. in Niagara-on-the-Lake, after the town decided to settle the developer’s challenge — in order to steer clear of the legal costs.
The town of Niagara-on-the-Lake released a statement Friday morning detailing the tribunal’s decision to allow the project to proceed.
In an interview with The Lake Report, Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa said the town decided to settle to avoid the legal costs of taking this challenge all the way.
The municipality was part of a few high-profile hearings at the Ontario Land Tribunal, including a month-long hearing on the Randwood Estate involving Solmar Inc. and another on a King Street condo proposal involving Butler’s Gardens Development Inc.
Zalepa said he is happy with the development proposal going ahead and “the report stands for itself,” referring to the official municipal staff report on the Mary Street project, which recommended council approve it.
The tribunal’s approval, which was given orally during the settlement hearing, removes any lack of clarity around the development’s suitability, he said.
The Lake Report does not yet have access to a copy of the tribunal’s written decision. Town staff said it will receive the written decision from the tribunal “in the coming weeks.”
The final decision to approve the Mary Street condo will still have to come back to council and site plan details still need to be worked out, he said.
The development has been a contentious one, with residents speaking out against building heights and questioning the condominium’s compatibility with neighbouring areas — mostly detached single-family homes.
Last September, a tie vote from councillors on the necessary bylaw amendments resulted in an overall refusal of the proposal.
This decision came after the application itself was approved at a past committee of the whole meeting and approved in discussion at the same September meeting.
The applicant, NPG Planning Solutions, appealed this decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal.
Councillors voted in favour of settling the appeal. Only councillors Couns. Gary Burroughs, Sandra O’Connor and Tim Balasiuk voted against the motion.
Burroughs told The Lake Report he still has some concerns.
“I’m disappointed because I don’t think we’ve considered either traffic or the stormwater, but I assume it will be dealt with at the site plan stage,” he said.
There is a holding provision on the plan as it stands, to further inspect stormwater management before development starts.
Traffic is also a major concern for Burroughs, he said.
“It’s so close to a very busy corner. We’ll see what happens,” Burroughs said.
“We have built some sort of apartment units successfully but not when they’re surrounded by residential homes so close.”
O’Connor emphasized her concern with stormwater management at the property.
“I’m not happy with it going forward as it is but you have to move on,” she said.
“My main concern was stormwater management, the size of the infrastructure that it was going to be linked into.”
With the hold on stormwater, there are potential changes that could be to come, O’Connor said.
