CENTRE WELLINGTON – It was déjà vu at town hall in Elora Wednesday night.
Another proposed downtown Fergus apartment looking to build taller than the norm brought out the public warning of the potential pitfalls, but also those in support of increasing the amount of rentals in town.
The Township of Centre Wellington held a meeting to give the public a say on a five-storey apartment building proposed for 223 St. Andrew St. E. at Gowrie Street.
This would be in what is considered the central business district where a maximum of three-storeys is allowed. Last Wednesday, the public packed the township administration building to push back or support four-storey rental apartments proposed in Downtown Elora and Fergus.
In a repeat of last week, the public came out again with some members having to view the meeting on a television from an overflow room in the basement.
Familiar faces and talking points were back too as the building is another one by developer Dave Gillis, who is the applicant for the Downtown Elora building, was joined by MHBC planning consultant Pierre Chauvin.
The public heard the building would consist of two ground floor commercial spaces, 17 rental units of various sizes and 23 parking spaces, nine of those across the road at a parking lot owned by Gillis.
While acknowledging the repeat nature of this application compared to the ones from the last public meeting, Chauvin told attendees this building is intended to provide much needed rental units in a township facing low vacancy rates and high rental costs in the greater context of a province-wide housing crisis.
“The objective for this development is not to solve that problem, we’re just going to be a small part in helping to move forward in providing more attainable housing to our community which is desperately needed,” Chauvin said.
“This will be purpose built rental units that allows for, again, right downtown to allow for people to live and work and play within walking distance of this community.”
The ongoing issue of parking in Downtown Fergus was first brought up by Bruce Lloyd, owner of the commercial building at 181 St. Andrew St. E. not far from the proposal.
He noted his building has 50 parking spots for tenants, staff and customers and is constantly filling up with people who aren’t allowed to park there, a problem he figured will be made worse with this proposed building.
“We are not opposed to the property being developed, however the burden and monitoring of our parking lot should not be a decision council forces us to do, if this proposal proceeds as presented,” Lloyd said.
Nearby resident Shawn Meunier stressed he wasn’t against development either but wanted council to be wary of building taller in town and the potential problems it might bring, including parking.
“Three storeys is what’s allowed downtown and there’s a reason for this bylaw,” Meunier said. “Bylaws are intentionally designed to protect the health and safety of our residents.”
“There’s not enough parking now and for heaven’s sake what is it going to be like with this five-storey building?” asked delegate Sonja Day.
Other speakers argued adding more rental units outweighs any cons it might bring.
Rosalyn Sutherland, a tenant in a current Gillis building, spoke of her gratitude for there being an available rental unit in Fergus when she was in need of one after having to sell her house.
“There’s a need, a great need for rental apartments that provide a healthy, safe environment,” Sutherland said. “If I had not found the comfortable and safe unit, very fitting to my already lived 80 years, I may have had to move from the area, from my family who support me as I support them.”
There were others who spoke of similar struggles.
“I have been looking for a place for six months,” added Susan Radojevic. “I am a person of means, I can afford it, but I don’t think I should be paying $3,600 for the first floor of a townhouse.”
One man said he and his wife will be looking to downsize soon due to retirement and are likely facing moving away from their grandchildren because there aren’t suitable rentals in town.
Another man asked the crowd if anyone had a basement apartment, even an illegal one, for his adult sons who can’t find a place of their own despite having good jobs.
At the end of the meeting, Mayor Shawn Watters commented this is a challenge faced by a lot of communities across the province and the public who spoke had a lot of merit in their arguments.
“We will look at this in a very fair and open minded way and our conclusions you may not be happy with what happens whether you’re on one side or the other,” Watters said. “It’s just the reality of where we’re at right now but housing is a human right and then we need to be able to provide a variety of housing for our community.”
