It was a long, hard, and expensive fight. Now, we are pleased to share with you the results of the OMB decision for St. Stevens Court.
While there still will be intensification, we were successful keeping out high rise buildings that the developer, Elia Corp., proposed, and thereby have also reduced the proposed density.
Since Elia’s application pre-dated the SASP (which protects the remaining 38 buildings in the apartment neighbourhood), he is not limited to the 4 to 6 storeys outlined in the SASP ruling.
The original proposal included two towers 14 and 16 storeys tall, and 3 shorter towers. That proposal was revised a few weeks before the commencement of the OMB hearings. The new proposal included a 12 and a 14 storey towers, both of which would be considerably taller than the existing 17 storey Kingsview building. However the OMB ruled that those buildings cannot exceed 9 storeys. This is a significant reduction and a huge win for our community!
The new buildings must have setbacks at the 4th, 6th and 9th floors. The remaining 3 buildings, which will be the 156 replacement rental units, cannot exceed 6 storeys in height.
Elia has 90 days to re-submit designs that conform with the OMB ruling. The HVVRA Board and City Planning will be working in partnership, as ruled by the OMB, to ensure the revisions are appropriate contextually for the existing neighbourhood.
It is always risky, unpredictable and expensive to oppose developers at the OMB. These largely positive results would not have been possible without the financial support of our members. Your donations allowed us to retain the services of Bruce Ketcheson (legal), Michael Spaziani (architect), and Barry Morrison (urban planner). The trio persuasively argued that Elia’s proposal for St. Steven’s Court was not in keeping with the neighbourhood character and that the HVVRA position for a development with significantly reduced height and density was reasonable and appropriate.
We hope you are as happy with the results as we are!
Sincerely,
HVVRA Board of Directors
May 2, 2017