THUNDER BAY — In the face of ardent opposition from residents, council is supporting the construction of two seven-storey apartment buildings on Arundel Street.
In a 9-to-3 vote, city council decided to rezone 791 Arundel St. from a community zone to urban mid-rise to pave the way for development.
In Tuesday’s meeting, which ran well past midnight, Couns. Albert Aiello, Mark Bentz, Kasey Etreni, Trevor Giertuga, Brian Hamilton, Greg Johnsen, Kristen Oliver, Dominic Pasqualino and Mayor Ken Boshcoff voted in favour of rezoning, while Couns. Andrew Foulds, Rajni Agarwal, and Michael Zussino voted against.
Before the meeting, more than 60 residents with TBay Greenspace Preservation rallied at city hall to protest the development. Recently, the group submitted a petition with 2,624 signatures opposing the rezoning.
“I mean there’s lots of issues. There are the environmental factors. There’s climate change, but the development doesn’t actually comply with a lot of the principles of the official plan or any of the other city planning documents. So, they have to look at that,” Lori Santink told Newswatch during the rally.
During the public meeting, 16 residents gave deputations. Fifteen spoke against the development, while one was for it.
Every council member who spoke in favour of rezoning said they hear the frustration, but the city is in a housing crisis and needs this kind of development.
“Every NIMBY argument has been addressed,” Boshcoff said. “And if we’re going to be a welcoming community, then let’s build decent homes for people. What is wrong with that? We don’t just want decent homes. We want them to love living here. And you know what? That part of Current River is spectacular and, you know, it’s as good as we could possibly get.”
Agarwal disagreed. “We’re not in a housing crisis in Thunder Bay,” she argued, suggesting that while there is a housing shortage that the only real crisis is with low-income affordable housing.
Foulds said he had been planning to vote in favour of the rezoning, but had a change of heart after several pieces of information came to light following conversations with constituents and the developer’s assessments of the area. Terralux hired engineering firm Stantec to conduct site studies and design work.
The scope of the environmental assessment was lacking, Foulds said, with only two visits to the site — one in 2024 to assess the soil and vegetation, and the other in 2026 to assess the boundaries.
“That was the extent of that study,” he said.
Several residents, including deputants at the meeting, have come forward saying they have identified habitats for a Canada warbler, monarch butterflies and the yellow-banded bumblebee, which are all considered species of concern by federal and provincial governments, as well as a Gray Fox, a species under threat of extinction.
“That is a threatened species. But in two-day visits, we’re not going to see it. And have we done the work to identify dens and all that kind of stuff? So, for me, it’s just not enough,” Foulds said.
The city’s acting commissioner of growth, Joel Deputer, confirmed the existence of the species at-risk in the area and said further studies will be conducted through the site plan control process.
Stantec’s traffic study, which predicts the apartments will increase traffic by a moderate two per cent, also came under fire by Foulds and project opponents who suggested the sample data used was too narrow in scope to properly reflect reality on the roads.
“We talked about traffic, and we can address that,” countered Giertuga, who said traffic and pedestrian safety issues can be addressed as development continues.
“When we talk about growth, I mean, as a community, we’re always talking about taxes, we’re talking about roads, we’re talking about policing, reducing crime, improving our infrastructure. How do you do that without going to the taxpayers over and over again? How do you ease the burden on taxpayers? Growth. And that’s what this is. A million dollars a year roughly in taxes,” he said.
Several deputants expressed concern about potential future development of lands adjacent to 791 Arundel St., with the inclusion of a potential access road to Lyons Boulevard in the design and the future development of the LPH grounds.
Space in the design was set aside for a potential access road in case the collector road was ever developed in the future, said Stantec project manager Tyler Rizutto, but isn’t part of the current application.
Director of engineering, Mathew Miedema, said a north-south collector road connect Arundel to Algoma has been a part of the city’s transportation master planning since 1987 and was reaffirmed in the 2019 plan.
The project will now go through the site plan control process, which involves more comprehensive studies. Depending on what they find, construction could start in 2028-2029.
