Property developer Mosaic Davis Inc. is proposing the construction of a six-storey 147-unit apartment complex at 201 Davis Dr. on a vacant, half-hectare lot at Longford Drive in Newmarket.
Consultant Nick Pileggi of Macaulay Shiomi Howson Ltd., a representative for the developer, told Newmarket council Monday that the site is in the town's urban centre, an area already designated by the town for more intensified development such as apartment buildings.
The design has been tailored as much as possible to meet the municipality's existing vision for the area, he said.
"The mid-rise building form we have proposed is what is desired for the area. The building fits within the building height requirements for the area and needs only minor zoning relief on the angular plane requirement. It will have access to higher-order transit, with a transit station basically right outside the front door," the consultant said.
"There will be a variety of unit mix in the building, and we think that it may help develop intensified development in the area."
Standing six storeys tall, the building will have six studio apartments, 51 one-bedroom apartments, 49 one-bedroom plus den apartments, 14 two-bedroom apartments and 28 two-bedroom plus den apartments.
There will be underground and above ground parking on the site, with each apartment having a spot, as well as 30 guest parking spaces. The plan is to have one entrance/exit on Davis and two on Penn Avenue.
The vacant lot is currently used by residents of the surrounding neighbourhood to get to and from Davis and the bus stop there. With that in mind, the proposal contains a pedestrian walkway to allow neighbours to continue having easy access to Davis.
"The intention is that there would continue to be public access through there if required. That could be secured with some public easement to make sure that the condo corporation doesn't block off access sometime in the future," suggested Gary Fields, the project architect from SRN Architects.
Although the plan has been crafted to meet Newmarket's requirements for urban core development, the developer needs amendments approved for it to go ahead.
The design meets the maximum height requirement of six storeys, but its angular plane is one metre too tall for Newmarket's 22-degree requirement.
The developer also is requesting a higher floor space index — the ratio of building floor space when compared to the size of the lot — of 2.5 instead of the required 2.0.
The project also needs an exemption to the rule of having only one vehicle entrance per frontage, as the design calls for two exits onto Penn.
Council did not make any decisions about the requested amendments Monday. The purpose of the meeting was to hear about the project and to allow local residents to voice their questions and concerns.
Some nearby residents submitted written depositions saying they were concerned that the building was too tall for the neighbourhood, even though it may meet most of the town's requirements.
"The (town) is required not to approve an applicant simply because it meets technical requirements when it is demonstrated that its fulfilment will unreasonably diminish the quality of life in the neighbourhood," said resident Claudia Gligor.
James and Agnes Wagstaff are concerned about the impact the building will have on traffic along Penn, where they live.
"Traffic on Penn Avenue will worsen to an unacceptable degree," the couple wrote.
"The traffic increase on Penn Avenue will cause an assured safety issue. Adding the traffic of 147 new units will cause an intolerable amount of traffic on a residential street, impeding the mobility and walkability of the existing residents."
When asked about the potential traffic impact on Penn, the project's transportation engineer, Brent Hooton of Dillon Consulting, said the apartment building will cause traffic to increase by one vehicle per minute during peak hours.
"On Penn Avenue, that will be even lower because you have traffic being dispersed between the two driveways. So it would be one vehicle every other minute on average," said Hooton.
Resident Gerald Fox noted that Newmarket's urban centres secondary plan requires that 25 per cent of new housing units be affordable to low and middle-income households, but that he couldn't find any indication of how many affordable units the project plans to have. When pressed on this point by council, Pileggi said they were still working with town staff to determine that.
"The region's affordability criterion number changes on a yearly basis, so it really depends on what the price for square-foot is going to be. You're looking into the future when we are marketing this building."
The next step for this project will be a report from town staff, which will contain recommendations to council on how to proceed and address the public concerns. That report is expected to be presented sometime next year.
