A new five-storey development consisting of commercial space and apartments is being proposed for the south end of Strathroy on Adelaide Road.
A report was presented to Strathroy-Caradoc councilors Aug. 2 that outlined the proposal for a property adjacent to Canadian Tire. It would include commercial spaces on the ground level, 52 apartments, an outdoor amenity area, 94 parking spaces, and a single entrance on Adelaide Road.
Senior planner Tim Williams said the property is zoned as commercial, although the commercial zoning does allow for residential use when situated above commercial units. But he said staff had concerns about whether the proposal kept to the Official Plan’s intent with the expanded residential use.
However, Michelle Doornbosch of Brock Development Group, which owns the property and submitted the application, disagreed with that interpretation of the bylaw’s intent.
“Under those policies, commercial uses are permitted,” she said. “Under those same policies, residential uses are also permitted. There’s no restriction on what the maximum height is for residential uses. There’s no restriction on the number of uses, other than prohibiting residential on the main floor. There are no other restrictions.
“If the intent of the Official Plan was to ultimately restrict commercial and the predominant use being commercial, then there would have been provisions built into the Official Plan at the time to say this is the predominant use,” she added. “That’s not how the policies are written. It is our position that an official plan amendment is not required. We comply with all of the policies.”
Williams also drew attention to the proposed parking at the location, which meets the requirements for tenant parking and commercial parking, but comes up short for visitor parking requirements.
To address parking issues or shortcomings, Doornbosch said the parking designated for commercial use could be used for both tenants and visitors after business hours, and that parking needs decrease throughout the day for residential spaces as residents go to work.
“After commercial hours, we’re essentially utilizing the entire 94 parking spaces for 52 units,” said Doornbosch. “That’s almost two spaces per unit.”
“We are not anticipating that these would be high traffic. We are looking and anticipating that these would likely be more general office-type uses, but we have no way of determining that at this point in time.”
Peter Rondelez, who lives on the property neighboring the proposed development, spoke during the meeting and opposed the development.
“I believe the building is too big, the property too small, and its location inappropriate for its use,” he said.
Rondelez expressed concerns about privacy, shadows and shade, traffic, parking, noise and light pollution, environmental, health and safety, and the financial impact of the development.
“Once this building is complete, it will be so tall and close that privacy on the most used part of our property will be virtually non-existent,” he said. “With 26 apartments with balconies overlooking us, we will be the definition of living in a fishbowl. We will never again be able to feel completely relaxed outdoors.”
Rondelez also said he was concerned about safety during the construction process, and pointed to Brock Development Group’s connection to 555 Teeple Terrace in London, where a building collapsed in 2020 while under construction, killing two people and injuring five others.
“I do not feel safe with a building that large being so close and being built by a developer with a collapsed building of similar size in their portfolio,” said Rondelez. “That’s pretty major.”
Although Coun. John Brennan said he accepted the idea of sharing spaces for commercial and residential use, he had concerns about whether that would create issues on weekends when residents are home and businesses may still be open.
“The flaw will be if we can’t have those same offsets on the weekend, because it just takes one or two days a week for there not the be enough parking for everybody on that site for it to become a problem,” he said .
count. Steve Pelkman said he was pleased to see a mixed-use building being brought before council, but voiced concerns about the entrance onto Adelaide Road, and said he’d rather see the entrance be built connecting to the nearby Canadian Tire property.
“I know that’s complicated with the ownership issue, but if we could make it happen, I think that would be the safest and most effective route to get people in and out,” said Pelkman.