‘Most offensive I’ve seen’: Proposed 17-storey Mississauga rental development at 170 Dundas St. E blasted by local councillor, Mayor Crombie

Project architect says development design an improvement over current 'bleak parking lot'

Thestar.com
July 15, 2022
Steve Cornwell

A proposal to build an 148-unit rental apartment building in Mississauga’s Port Credit neighbourhood has not had a warm reception by city officials and residents.
The proposed 17-story rental apartment at 170 Lakeshore Rd. E. was discussed at Mississauga’s planning and development committee last month and the project received stiff criticism from council members and residents who spoke at the meeting.
Local councillor Stephen Dasko said the proposal was “one of the most offensive I’ve seen to date” and asked the developer to come back with something more in line with the local plans.
The development, which is proposed by Lightpoint Inc. and would replace a one-storey commercial plaza, is about 14-storeys taller than what city zoning for the property currently allows.
Planning consultant Jim Levac, who was representing Lightpoint at the June meeting, said given the property’s closeness to the Port Credit Go Station and a future Hazel McCallion Line stop, 170 Lakeshore should be considered as a part of a major transit station area that ends just west of the site.
Including the 0.28 hectre development site may create a planning justification for more density.
Dasko did not seem convinced of Levac’s argument.
“This happens to be on the wrong side,” the Ward 2 councillor said. “Unfortunately, if you happen to purchase the wrong piece of property, then, you know, it's just the way it goes.”
Plans for the development include ground floor commercial retail and project architect Stephen Hood said the project’s design has tried to create a more animated property than the existing “bleak parking lot” and will provide neighbourhood amenities like benches.
“Like any change, it will upset some individuals. But again, I think we've tried to develop a project that does a significant improvement to the community,” Hood said.
Nine local residents spoke at the meeting, outlining various concerns about the project including privacy, noise and traffic impacts.
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said at the meeting that what was purposed was “way too much density” for the property and didn’t align with the city’s plans for the area.
“Other than the fact that it is purpose-built rental, that's the only redeeming quality I can see about this application. I wouldn't support it either,” she said.
The proposal comes as Mississauga has seen relatively few purpose-built rental development applications compared to condo and freehold units in recent years.
Recent applications by Oxford Properties and Alberta Investment Corporation, however, are proposing to add over 9,000 rental units over multiple phases of a project around Square One.
Since 2002, Mississauga has hovered between 28,000 and 30,000 rental apartment and townhouse units, with 29,852 in the market last year, according to data from Peel Region.
The data showed that average vacancy rates during that time reached their lowest point at a paltry 0.8 per cent in 2018 and their highest in 2004 at 5.1 per cent.
Last year’s average vacancy rate across all rental unit types was 3.5 per cent.
Crombie, Dasko and Ward 2 Coun. Pat Mullin symbolically voted against receiving the city staff report on the development.
Most of council voted to receive the report on the development for information but no final approvals for 170 Lakeshore have been made.
The 170 Lakeshore development could be appealed at the Ontario Land Tribunal if the city and LIghtpoint don’t come to an agreement on the scale of the project.