On one of the last days of the election, I learned that staff were going to present their recommendation on this application at the Planning Committee to be held on November 4th. The report that goes with this application was posted yesterday at 475 Terry Fox Drive. As the community will remember, we held two community consultations on this file. Thank you to the many residents who attended those sessions and who have, since then, sent in feedback, suggestions and petitions against the development. All members of the Planning Committee, including me, have received all of your feedback on this development. Residents can also register to speak directly to the committee members who will be considering the staff recommendation. If you wish to present to the Planning Committee, you will have 5 minutes to speak. After your five minutes, you may also be asked questions by members of the Committee.
To register, you must provide the meeting coordinator with your name, telephone number and email address (if available). Note: Committee coordinator contact information is included on the agenda on the Agendas and minutes web portal. The deadline to register:
-
By email: Register by one hour before the meeting start time.
-
By phone: Register by 4 pm on the business day before the meeting, unless otherwise noted on the meeting agenda.
What is important for everyone to know is that the Planning Committee has the option to approve or reject the application. However, the application can only be rejected if there is a clear and defensible planning rationale. As with every single application, that is what I will be asking staff about.
What has happened successfully in the past is that if there is no defensible planning rationale to reject an application outright, the community can still influence some of the features of the building or the site through the site-plan process. That is where City Planning staff take the community feedback and work with the developer to accommodate the community’s requests.
While I have heard feedback from people who are in support of this development and more housing in this area, I also have a list of details that the community is particularly upset about. I will be asking questions about those things as well. As always, thank you for helping me understand the different perspectives on this development application. I will take into consideration all of the feedback received and the staff recommendation.