Aurora council opted to move a proposal for 116 units of stacked townhouses onto the next stage of its approval process, despite concerns about density, parking and affordability.
Armis Holding Inc. is applying to build back-to-back stacked townhouses on a 3.6-acre plot at 511 to 543 Wellington St. W. The property lies west of Aurora High School, and near the North Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church. There’s another development proposal for 29 townhomes on that property.
“There’s also other density nearby and there are other applications on the north side for townhouses, which shows that the area’s in a bit of transition,” said Nick Pileggi, a consultant with Macaulay Shiomi Howson.
Speaking during a public planning meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 21, Nan Huang said he thought the development would “destroy” the quieter atmosphere of Aurora.
He said he initially moved to Aurora because he wanted to live in a more “peaceful city,” coming from Oakville where he said he saw the area change quickly due to development. Huang said he did not want to see the same thing happen in Aurora.
“I think this crazy 120-stacked townhouse will definitely destroy this iconic thing,” he said.
Other residents echoed Huang’s concerns, including Janice Ryan, who said the development would be "densely populated.”
“This development fails to transition gently to the higher density as required in the area,” she said, adding she was concerned about parking in the area.
Several other residents voiced concerns about the number of parking spaces. The developer is proposing 123 resident parking spaces and 23 visitor parking spaces, all underground.
Pileggi said while “the number might seem aggressive,” residents moving into the properties would be buying knowing they only had one parking spot.
“When you’re purchasing this unit, it’s no different than purchasing any condominium, you buy your unit and you buy your parking spot that comes with it,” he said. You know what you get and that’s all you get.”
“If you need more than one parking space, you simply don’t buy this unit,” he added.
Town planning director Marco Ramunno compared the units to a “hybrid between a townhouse and an apartment.”
Affordability
Speaking during the meeting, echoed several concerns heard from residents, calling for the proposal to be brought back to a future public planning meeting.
"It is not an uncommon kind of development, the question is do we want it in Aurora? I don’t think so,” she said.
Both councillors Wendy Gaertner and Ron Weese questioned whether the units would meet the requirement of having 25 per cent of units being affordable, as set out in the town’s affordable housing action plan.
In response, Pileggi said the units are a “different type of product” and questioned the feasibility of building affordable units, pointing to York Region’s threshold for affordable ownership of housing, which in 2022 was $564,326.
Pileggi estimated the proposed units would cost around $800,000 to $900,000, based on a calculation of $1,000 per square foot.
“That’s just not something any developer is going to be able discount a unit $300,000, $400,000 to meet that criteria without help, frankly,” said Pileggi.
Both Weese and Councillor Rachel Gilliland said they had concerns about the amount of proposed amenity space.
But Gilliland spoke in favour of moving the development to the next stage, noting it lies along a regional corridor as identified by the town’s official community plan.
“For me to even fathom putting this back to public planning one more time, I think it’s just more red tape, that we are being part of that problem of getting shovels in the ground,” said Gilliland.
A report will be brought forward to a future committee of the whole meeting.