{"id":18973,"date":"2017-11-15T17:03:18","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T22:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=18973"},"modified":"2017-11-15T17:03:18","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T22:03:18","slug":"rental-apartments-planned-for-wellington-and-john-west-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/rental-apartments-planned-for-wellington-and-john-west-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Rental apartments planned for Wellington and John West Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over 130 rental apartment units are planned for the northeast corner of John West Way and Wellington Street East.
\nDesigns for the proposed six storey apartment complex were unveiled at Council last week, planned for a plot of land originally slated for a one storey strip plaza.
\nWhile the originally proposed plaza raised the ire of some Councillors who argued that it was not in keeping with the vision of the Aurora Promenade Plan while others argued it was \u201cthe best Aurora is going to get\u201d after previous landowners said the land\u2019s soil wouldn\u2019t support anything larger, the new landowners have a much grander vision.
\n\u201cThe property is designated Promenade General and there are a range of uses permitted within that designation,\u201d said planning consultant Murray Evans on behalf of the landowners. \u201cThe essence of that designation, as it runs along Yonge Street and along Wellington, is to encourage more intense or appropriate forms of development to activate the street and use that promenade location. A six storey rental apartment building would be more appropriate implementing the objectives you have in your OP (Official Plan).
\n\u201cIt is our objective to comply with the policies as far as height, density, unit counts, and also the design guidelines of how to create attractive streets, and connections to the valley systems. We believe we are reinstituting what was originally envisioned for this site.\u201d
\nThe area is currently designated for five storeys, with an additional story possible through bonusing; that is, a bonus to the builder for amenities that benefit the whole community. These bonusing opportunities, from Mr. Evans\u2019 perspective, include connections into local valley lands as well as street art.
\n\u201cThere are 132 units and 80 per cent of the parking spaces will be underground, so we\u2019re trying to create a more attractive site,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have a range of one, two and three bedroom housing [units] and the proposed unit sizes now range between 800 and 1,500 square feet.\u201d
\nWhile other proposed zoning amendment applications were voted down by Council last week, including proposals for lands at 100 Tyler Street and 34-46 George Street, as well as 103,107 and 111 Metcalfe Street, pending a comprehensive Aurora-wide bylaw review, Councillors greeted this plan enthusiastically.
\n\u201cCompared to [the plaza] this actually looks like a fantasy,\u201d said Councillor Wendy Gaertner, who was one of the most vocal opponents of the original plan, questioning whether soil testing has confirmed whether the land can support a building of this size.
\nTesting is ongoing, said Mr. Evans.
\nCouncillors as a whole, however, sensed an opportunity.
\nAlong with those bonusing possibilities, lawmakers said they would like to explore an increased emphasis on affordable housing units within the plan.
\n\u201cWe have had many conversations around the table regarding affordable housing in Aurora and there is a need for more affordable rental units,\u201d said Councillor Michael Thompson. \u201cI think we are all concerned with what the benefit to the community is when we look at development applications. I know that rental units and certainly more affordable rental units are what we always come back to.\u201d
\nAdded Councillor John Abel: \u201cI am looking for a groundbreaking rental unit. I am looking forward to something along those lines and getting a bit more detail.\u201d
\nIn response, Mr. Evans said his client is always open to ongoing dialogue. It is a matter of how you achieve those units, he said, and what is affordable.
\n\u201cQuite honestly, my client\u2019s vision is for the [downsizing] element of the Town,\u201d he said. \u201cCertainly that would be on the table through any part of the discussion.\u201d
\nMarco Ramunno, Aurora\u2019s Director of Planning, assured Council that affordable rental units can \u201ccertainly\u201d be on the table when discussions turn to the zoning and site plan stage, particularly if they indeed seek an increase in height.
\n\u201cWe could nail those down through the zoning bylaw and a special agreement,\u201d he said. \u201cThat would be tied into the zoning bylaw and future site plan agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over 130 rental apartment units are planned for the northeast corner of John West Way and Wellington Street East.
\nDesigns for the proposed six storey apartment complex…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-4W1","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-21 18:05:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18973\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}