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North Bay City Council has approved the rezoning of the former J.W. Trusler school property located at 111 Cartier St., one of the final steps in a local developer's plan to add 120 rental units geared for seniors to the local inventory.
According to the associated staff report, the developer will convert the existing brick building to 20 dwelling units and build a new three-storey 100-dwelling unit building plus parking areas. A vegetative buffer/open space area will remain at the western edge of the property.
Council also placed the property under site plan control during Tuesday's regular meeting. A completed traffic study recommends the construction of a sidewalk along Cartier Street as part of the Thibeault Terrace development and this is a stipulation of the site plan control agreement.
The Planning Department states the City’s Official Plan and the Provincial Policy Statement each encourage municipalities to facilitate infill development of this type of housing in existing built up areas.
Coun. Bill Vrebosch told his colleagues he had recently visited the area several times.
"I've seen what they plan to do with it," he said. "I think there is nothing much better you can do with it. It really does suit the area. There are apartments nearby, semi-detached, single homes. There is a good mix. The road structure, from what I saw, there was no excessive traffic. I'm supportive and it's needed within the city to develop these properties."
The apartment complex will consist of bachelor, one- and two-bedroom units. The marketing of these units will be to seniors seeking independent living although human rights considerations will open the building to all apartment-seekers.
The redevelopment of the former school and its grounds was compared several times during the meeting to the re-purposing of the Marshall Park school into senior living units in 2018.
See related: Multi-million dollar affordable housing complex for seniors opens in former school
Coun. Mark King expressed support but noted his concern the 120-unit project "could end up in a legal matter. From what I've seen, in the staff reports, and the questioning that went on at different levels about the development, it seems the best possible use."
During a committee-level meeting on June 20, members heard concerns about traffic increases, on-street parking, infrastructure capacity, and the loss of greenspace due to the planned development.
David Ellingwood, a nearby resident, spoke at length during that meeting about various intensification and planning policies and questioned their application in objecting to the proposal.
Ellingwood also advised the committee the traffic lights at Champlain Street and McKeown Avenue that serve as the main access point to the area are below standard and this inefficiency would only worsen with the increased traffic flow from the new complex. He also noted the entire subdivison is served by only one park (see video below).
Paul Goodridge of Goodridge Goulet Planning & Surveying addressed some of the concerns raised during that June 20 meeting.
"This is a direction the province is pushing the municipalities to look at," Goodridge advised. "It is also an identified concern here in the City of North Bay. We desperately need more rental housing."
Goodridge is the agent for the proponent, Jimmy Kolios. "He's done a number of other developments of a similar nature within the city," said Goodridge of is client. "He has expertise in doing this and he does it well."
In response to the concern of the loss of greenspace in the neighbourhood, Goodridge noted the property is private yet the plans for the development include keeping approximately 14 per cent of the land "is being set aside for vegetation, to keep it as a passive recreation space. Basically, a park setting."
Part of the northeast corner of the lot will be kept as greenspace, said Goodridge, and in winter will be used as a place to store snow from the parking lot. The spring melt will be addressed through a stormwater management plan.
