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By Brock Weir You can now have your say on how the Town can best
protect Aurora's stable neighbourhoods. Members of the public can now take their thoughts online
to weigh in on “future development in areas designated as stable
neighbourhoods” around Aurora, which include the neighbourhoods around Town
Park, Regency Acres, and Aurora Heights. Input received online through Place Speak
(placespeak.com/stableneighbourhoods), along with suggestions on the future
direction of stable neighbourhoods and how Council can best protect and
safeguard against developments that do not fit into the neighbourhoods in
question, will be compiled ahead of the March 27 Public Planning meeting. This meeting will be dedicated to new zoning bylaws,
currently being drafted, that are intended to bring zoning related to Stable
Neighbourhoods in line with provisions in the Town's Official Plan. “The meeting is scheduled for March 27 and I believe one
of the recommendations in the Consultant Report [commissioned by Council to
come up with independent recommendations on changes to zoning bylaws] was to
look at height as well as maximum gross floor area, as well as provide some guidelines,”
said Town Planner Lawrence Kuk at last week's Council meeting. While further legislation on infill developments within
the Town's three designated stable neighbourhoods is still some three weeks
away, Council touched upon things to come last week while approving an
exemption to the Interim Control Bylaw put in place to regulate construction
within these neighbourhoods until more concrete recommendations came forward. The exemption pertains to a redevelopment application for
29 Church Street, across the street from the Aurora Cultural Centre. The owners of the property propose to demolish the
existing home and rebuild a two-storey detached for their retirement; a home
which must also meet the needs of their daughter who requires a wheelchair
accessible home. The family bought the home in question in 2018, intending
to build a home for their retirement but they said they were “caught by
surprise” when the Town enacted the Interim Control Bylaw, after the building
was “de-listed” by Council last July, with the proviso that all future building
elevations were subject to a review by Aurora's Design Panel Review and
approval of Planning Staff. Speaking against granting the exemption last week, which
would allow the family to advance their plans to review by the Committee of
Adjustment, Councillor Wendy Gaertner said timing was everything. “We're so close to finally deciding something at Council
and because this is such an important location…I am
hoping Council will agree not to make an exception and wait a month before we
see what's coming forward to the Public Planning meeting.”
Councillor John Gallo, who supported the exemption at the
Committee level in February, added he had changed his mind, echoing the
sentiments of Councillor Gaertner. “I…took a bit of a deeper look at it, and I wasn't really
sure exactly when we would be coming back to make some decisions on Stable
Neighbourhoods and bylaws,” said Councillor Gallo. “I think because of that…I
would hate to move something forward that in a few weeks time would be contrary
to a decision [we] may make. While I don't like delaying and I know [the family
has been to Council] I also don't know that we would even be passing a bylaw in
March. Those are all the variables. To me, it just seems so close and it is
worth waiting to see the results of that before we move ahead with this. I
wouldn't feel great if this didn't end up complying with the potentially new
bylaws.” Councillors Gaertner and Gallo, however, were the only
two Council members who voted against allowing plans to move forward to the
next stage. For the five Council members who voted in favour of the
exemption, the plans presented were modest and not a “monster home” the Interim
Control Bylaw was designed to block. “I understand there is another month to go, but that can
lead to two months, two-and-a-half months, who knows, but I am not really quite
certain what we're scared of with this particular outlier, as I like to call
it,” said Councillor Rachel Gilliland. “They are going to comply with the
nine-metre height. Yes, they are across from the Cultural Centre, but the scale
of it, I believe, would not be out of place when they are adjacent to a rather
large facility. “I feel this property is an outlier [in the sense
that]…it is not typical of what we're trying to achieve as far as the Monster
Homes and the incompatibility of the neighbourhood. I feel this is unfortunate
timing for them and an example that perhaps is not the best one to be making.” A similar view was offered by Councillor Michael Thompson
who said Council has already delayed the family's plans once. They have, he
argued, shown a willingness to make alterations to their plans in order to
comply with regulations.” “Their intention is to stay and live there and I support
their request,” he said. “All we are allowing them to do is move forward in the
process. As the report indicates [it still has to go through] the Committee of
Adjustment, there's still Site Plan and a whole number of steps. All we're
saying is we're allowing them the opportunity to move forward in that process.” Added Mayor Tom Mrakas: “This is going to need a variance
regardless, whenever we change our bylaws. We're allowing this to move forward
in the process. We're not approving the development. We're not approving the
house to be built. All we're doing is we're allowing it to go to the Committee
of Adjustment and I think at that time the Committee will make their decision
it meets the criteria. I believe this is the kind of thing you
should exempt from the Interim Control Bylaw.”
Excerpt: You can now have your say on how the Town can best protect Aurora’s stable neighbourhoods.
Post date: 2019-03-15 18:48:52
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