Burlington infill - Tricky townhouses

NRU
Jan. 4, 2017
By Andrew Cohrs

A developer’s proposal to construct mostly townhouses on a challenging site in Burlington is being met with skepticism from the local councillor and staff.

“Putting 25 units in there is just crazy... It is way over what our zoning is and I will not be supporting a rezoning,” Ward 4 councillor Jack Denison told NRU.

DiCarlo Custom Homes is proposing to construct 23 townhouses and one semidetached dwelling on a 0.54 ha site, currently occupied by the Grace Christian School, at 607 Dynes Road. Neither the school nor the gymnasium have being identified as having any heritage value and are proposed to be demolished. However, the site is challenging because it does not have access to a public road. The school was originally accessed through the surface parking lot of an adjacent church, but DiCarlo is proposing a new access point from the bulb of a cul-de-sac south of the site.

Burlington planner Mark Hefferton told NRU that while the site has never had vehicular access from the cul-de-sac, the developer has a legal right to gain site access from that street.

However, Dennison says that access would result in unacceptable traffic impacts. Further, he says the proposed townhouses are incompatible with the official plan policy which limits residential development on the site to 25 units per hectare. At almost double the permitted density Dennison says the proposal represents overdevelopment.

Staff agree that the proposal is much denser than what is currently permitted. In a pre-consultation meeting with DiCarlo planning staff suggested reducing the number of units so that sufficient setbacks and a buffer from adjacent homes could be accommodated.

“It’s a dense proposal compared to what the official policies and the regulations under the zoning by-law currently permit... We will [need to] look at the existing housing forms and the adjacent streets and size of lots,” Hefferton said.

Hefferton notes that despite the developer’s right to access from the cul-de-sac, neighbours are concerned about how their street will be affected by increased traffic. Also some have commented that townhouses are incompatible with the surrounding houses, which are largely detached bungalows.

Dennison says that the proposed development should be brought closer to the existing housing form in the neighbourhood. A public meeting is scheduled to be held on January 10.