THUNDER BAY – The city is moving ahead with three multi-residential projects despite concern from some councillors about the possible impact of high-density housing.
On Tuesday, city council approved the sale of the city-owned lots at 144 Fanshaw Street, 300 Tokio Street and 791 Arundel Street to Terralux General Contractors and Development Limited for just over $5.2 million.
Each site was voted on separately. The Fanshaw and Tokio projects were passed unanimously by council. Coun. Rajni Agarwal was the only member to oppose the Arundel site.
Despite the strong support for selling the properties, Agarwal and Coun. Andrew Foulds each expressed some concern — something Mayor Ken Boshcoff said he was surprised to hear amidst a housing crisis.
This council formed the Mayor’s Taskforce on Building More Homes Advisory Committee, which included investors, community housing partners, and subject experts to tackle that crisis, Boshcoff said.
“I’m sure hoping that we will not be the obstacles that all these people who put so much in investments and are committed to building more homes to address this need,” he said. “The fact that the construction industry and darn near everybody else has come forward in support of this, understanding that we’re not just doing this on speculation. We’re addressing a very human need, and indeed, as we supply professionals in the construction industry, it really is up to us.”
Altogether, the three projects would create up to 950 new housing units over the next four years.
“Growth is important, but growth at a moderate rate would be ideal over growing too fast,” Agarwal said.
“I have challenges with this much development at one time,” she said. “Right now, the markets have crashed in Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver and some of the other cities outside of the Vancouver region.”
“Council should be mindful in comparing Thunder Bay to major metropolitan areas such as Vancouver and Toronto, where one-bedroom rental units cost nearly $5,000 a month, and a starter home is close to $3 million,” Coun. Kasey Etreni said.
Developing the three properties is “the smart thing to do for our community,” she said. “It will keep costs down for rentals. It will keep costs down or stabilize costs for housing, and that’s where we need to go.”
Growing too fast “would be a pleasant problem to bring back to council,” said city manager John Collin, considering the city is currently lagging behind its target of three per cent annual growth.
He said if the city manages to add to the housing supply to meet demand, housing prices will stabilize.
Agarwal also said she was concerned the proposed 400-unit Arundel project would create safety issues along the active living trail leading to Lyon Boulevard.
Joel DePeuter, director of development services, said a traffic impact study will be conducted to determine entrance locations and improvements to manage traffic flow as part of the site plan control process.
Aaron Ward, manager of engineering, added that a road safety audit will examine potential changes to pedestrian and traffic patterns and identify other safety improvements.
Although Foulds voted for the sale of the three sites, he said he isn’t convinced about the rezoning, particularly of Arundel.
Ward said all three properties would have a functional servicing report, which includes stormwater management, drainage, water distribution systems, sanitary collection, and utility requirements.
“The purchase and sale agreements make it quite clear that the conditions need to be met for the deal to go through; otherwise, the deal does not go through. So, for example, if rezoning is not approved, the purchase and sale is null and void. So, there are those provisions. This is not a done deal at this point,” Collin said.
Arundel and Fanshaw will also need to go through the zoning bylaw amendment process, which requires a public meeting in front of council where people can speak to re-zoning, DePeuter noted.
“I’m frankly not sure how I’m going to vote on that rezoning. I’m going to wait to get the information,” said Foulds. “We have a professional staff, and we have a developer that has to spend some money on doing some significant research, and in essence, they have to earn it.”
