Town has a plan to avoid a land tribunal hearing on Mary Street apartment

Niagara-on-the-Lake town council has agreed on an approach to take with a developer and an Ontario Land Tribunal hearing following an unusual turn of events. 

On Sept. 10, the town’s committee-of-the-whole approved a 41-unit condo project on Mary Street by granting it the Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendments required for the project to move forward. 

But a couple of weeks later, during the next regular council meeting, that development was stalled by a tie vote by council when the project needed to be ratified through a bylaw. 

Voting in favour of the project the first time during the committee-of-the-whole meeting were Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa and Couns. Erwin Wiens, Maria Mavridis, Wendy Cheropita and Adriana Vizzari.  

Voting against the development at that time were Couns. Gary Burroughs, Sandra  O’Connor and Tim Balasiuk.

But when the bylaw was up for rubber-stamping on Sept. 24, it was supported by Cheropita, Vizzari and Wiens. Not in favour were Balasiuk, Burrough, and O’Connor. 

Zalepa and Mavridis were both absent when the bylaws were up for adoption and a 3-3 tie occurred, resulting in the final approval for the project being defeated. 

This has now resulted in the developer planning to build at 223 and 227 Mary Street filing an appeal with the land tribunal. 

At Tuesday’s committee-of-the-whole planning meeting, staff presented councillors with three options for moving forward. 

Councillors instructed the town’s legal counsel to reach a settlement with the developer by approving the proposed amendments. The other options involved explaining the "reasons for refusal" of the amendments, which the third option, the one chosen, does not.

Zalepa argued that council should have a “judiciary responsibility” to uphold its previous decisions through the bylaw process. 

He said he is not confident the town will have a case at the tribunal hearing, given what unfolded to lead to an appeal. 

Zalepa expects the town will “miserably lose” and that those who voted against the bylaw to stall the project did so to “make people feel good for a short period of time.” 

The proposed height has been reduced from 18 metres to 13.8 metres. 

The owner of the property, which fronts Mary Street and runs parallel and behind homes facing Mississagua Street, is seeking amendments which include allowing the building to be taller than 12 metres.

Wiens agreed with Zalepa that the town has “no chance” at being successful at the hearing and cited growing costs of OLT appeals the town is dealing with. 

“This is ongoing and ongoing,” said Wiens. 

During Tuesday’s discussion, Mavridis addressed her absence from the end of the Sept. 24 meeting when bylaws were up for adoption. 

She was there earlier in the evening but left because she was “physically not well,” and is disappointed that her previous vote on the project ended up meaning nothing. 

“To not approve our bylaws makes no sense to me,” said Mavridis. 

She said the proposed development is what the town needs and that there are no impacts on heritage, pointing to the property sitting near a gas station, Tim Hortons and an Avondale. 

“This is the type of housing our residents keep saying they want to see,” she said. 

Earlier in Tuesday’s debate, O’Connor said she believes the site is not equipped with proper services for a 41-unit building and that what is required will “far exceed” what’s currently in place. 

The initial proposal included a rooftop pool, but that has been axed from the plans. 

To address comments and reduce the massing of the building, there has been a shift to relocate the proposed driveway of the underground parking lot, to be farther away from the Mississagua Street and Mary Street intersection and to align with the commercial driveway on the south side of Mary Street, says the report approved on Sept. 10.