Committee rejects seniors housing project for Moonglo area

Despite making changes designed to reduce negative impacts, a developer seeking to build a mix of seniors apartments and assisted living units in the Moonglo area was turned down Monday.

Appearing at a public hearing in front of the city's planning committee, as well as dozens of residents from the area, the proposal by Autumnwood Mature Lifestyle Communities went down to defeat in a 3-2 vote following hours of discussion.

The plan would have seen 144 independent living apartments, 108 assisted-living quarters and a medical office built on land bordering Brenda Drive, Moonrock and Telstar avenues. The plan presented Monday was a revised version of one first presented in May 2014 that raised several concerns among area residents.

“A roadway connection to Hidden Ridge Court and 23 lots for single residential use have been deleted,” the staff report on the project said. “The parkland dedication has been reconfigured to provide 30 metres of frontage on Hidden Ridge Court.

“Furthermore, the owner has revised the application from 'R4,' High Density Residential to 'R3,' Medium Density Residential as a more appropriate representation of the density and built form.”

However, it was the rezoning that had many neighbours upset. It was another case of city and provincial intensification policies butting heads against residents with serious concerns that new developments will dramatically change the character of their neighbourhood.

“We consider our subdivision a beautiful and highly sought after residential area,” one letter objecting to the project said. “The rezoning request completely changes the landscape and does not fit into the area.”

A summary outlining neighbourhood concerns can be found here.

Despite a recommendation from city planners that the project be approved with several conditions, Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh, Ward 10 Coun. Fern Cormier and Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann all voted against. Ward 4 Coun. Evelyn Dutrisac and Ward 11 Coun. Lynne Reynolds voted in favour.

While defeated at planning, there's a history of such decisions – where the committee votes against planning staff recommendations — being reversed by appealing to the Ontario Municipal Board, should the developer decide to appeal.

The most recent case was R. M. Belanger's successful appeal of a planning committee denial of a rezoning to build three semi-detached dwellings at the intersection of Algonquin Road and Trailridge Drive.

In that case, neighbourhood concerns were enough to convince the committee to reject the rezoning in September 2014, even though planning staff said it conformed to provincial planning rules. Following an OMB appeal, that was reversed in a decision released Nov. 13, meaning Belanger can now proceed with the project.