Niagara-on-the-Lake Local received the following letter to the editor regarding the new Mary Street apartment building.
Council is considering approval of this totally dysfunctional project. All apartment buildings require laneways for moving vans and need space where large service vehicles used by painters, plumbers, electricians, furniture delivery trucks, UPS, Amazon Prime, Purolator etc. can manoeuver and park. Because this building is so large none of these vehicles will fit on the property.
I don’t think that the Official Plan, zoning and the bylaws should be changed to accommodate a bad building that is far too large for the land. Deliveries cannot be made on site meaning that most of the service vehicles will have to park on Mary Street blocking the intersection. Should any of these trucks park on the main driveway, they will block emergency vehicle access, contrary to the building code, and block access to the owners’ parking garage.
Garbage is also a problem. With 41 apartments, there will be hundreds of garbage bags and grey, blue and green bins every week requiring a large garbage truck, which regrettably can’t fit on the property on the small roads all with an inadequate turning radius. Again, garbage trucks will probably have to pick up from the curb which will block the most important intersection in town and the only one with a traffic light.
In conclusion, there is no reason for council to approve a building which is so large that none of the practical requirements of an apartment building can be accommodated on the property. Council should reject the project entirely and request the proponent prepare a revised design that recognizes that the day to day requirements of a typical apartment building can only be met with a larger property, or a smaller building!
Council should appreciate that the Official Plan, land use zoning and the bylaws were developed by experts and are not an arbitrary set of rules that they can change on a whim. Council should reject this proposal and require the proponent to redesign the project preferably to meet the existing bylaws, zoning and the Official Plan. The new design must also meet the functional requirements of an apartment building, which would be insisted on by any other municipality in Niagara.
Regards,
R. Wayne Murray
Niagara-on-the-Lake
