THUNDER BAY – City council has paved the way for more than a thousand new apartments to be built in the city.
After changes were made to three of four major multi-unit housing projects, council voted in favour of declaring all four city-owned sites as surplus land, available to be sold for development — despite public opposition to the two biggest developments.
“I think this is probably one of the most transformational votes that we’ll have around this table for this term. I know many people have emailed me to remind me it’s an election year, but I believe my role on council is to do what I think is right by the city and the community, not to get re-elected. If I’m not here in November, that’s OK. I’m not afraid. I will not sacrifice my integrity,” Coun Shelby Ch’ng said.
Each site was voted on separately. Council unanimously supported surplussing the sites at 144 Fanshaw St. and at 211-223 Tupper St. and 224 Camelot St. Coun. Rajni Agarwal was the only council member to oppose the 300 Tokio St. and 791 Arundel St. projects, which have both drawn public opposition.
After gathering input from the five-member growth standing committee meeting, city staff and the developers adjusted the conceptual proposals for all but one project.
Altogether, the four projects would create 1,135 new housing units, a reduction from the 1,385 units originally proposed. The city needs 1,755 new housing starts by February 2027 to reach its housing target and retain funding.
The size of the Arundel Street project accounts for most of the difference.
The proposal has been reduced from three buildings to two, and the number of units reduced from 600 to 400, according to the staff report. One proposed building will be five storeys high, while the other will remain at six storeys.
Coun. Trevor Giertuga supported the Arundel Street development on Monday after opposing it the committee level for being “too large.”
“There’s been quite a bit of consultation on these properties, and I see this as a pretty good compromise,” Giertuga said.
The reduction is “not really a compromise”, Coun. Andrew Foulds said after hearing the director of development services, Joel Depeuter, say 600 units exceeded the urban high-rise zoning limit.
“They’re actually following the rules now, in terms of that mid-rise, so I guess I’m glad that it’s smaller because certainly at my ward meeting, there was some significant issues with that,” Foulds said.
The proposal for Fanshaw Street has been reduced from 200 units to 150 units, and the building will be five storeys.
The Tokio Street project, 400 units in two six-story buildings at the corner of John Street and Junot Avenue South, hasn’t changed in scope but the shape of one building has been modified to create more separation and privacy for homes on Picton Avenue. Several neighbours held a rally against the development last week.
Other changes to the conceptual designs include increased setbacks from all property lines, increased buffering to maintain privacy and decrease noise pollution, integration of architectural features to reduce the perceived impact of larger buildings, and greater integration with trail networks.
Agarwal expressed concerns about the potential sale and development of the properties.
The city doesn’t know what potential traffic impacts will be of the Tokio Street property will be, for example, when the province puts an overpass at John Street and the Thunder Bay Expressway, she said.
“We don’t have that calculated. And, if we say we’re going to sell a developer this land, they’re going to negotiate a price based on the offer, and then they go, oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. We may need to realign that intersection and bring it northeast a little bit because of the traffic flow. The count is not just here,” Agarwal said.
Because the Arundel Street lot will need to be rezoned from community to urban mid-rise, Agarwal wanted to know if they will sell the property under its current zoning or the value of the property once rezoned.
Depeuter said the properties are “appraised at the highest and best use.”
“An appraiser can only look at what they have in front of them at that moment. They can’t predict the future, and they can’t base a value on the future potential. So that’s my concern. That’s a very big concern on value of property. I can’t support,” Agarwal said.
The staff report also said all development proposals are subject to change through the sales negotiations, planning and development applications, and site plan control.
Depeuter said the Growth Standing Committee would be consulted, and then city council would have to ratify the purchase agreements on all four properties.
Fanshaw and Arundel will also have to be rezoned, which will require additional public input.
