It’s the latest highrise battle to play out along Queen Street in Kingston, Ont’s, downtown area.
A 16-storey residential and commercial building is proposed to replace the much smaller Stanley Bruce building at the corner of Queen and Barrie streets.
But the city may be ready to endorse the project after recent negotiations with highrise developer, Podium Development, reached a compromise.
“That would see a smaller building, so a little bit shorter,” says Kingston mayor Bryan Paterson.
“I think the original proposal was 16 storeys, this would be closer to 15. The podium, which is the building right on the street level, will reduce from five storeys to three storeys.”
The developer has agreed to contribute $300,000 for more supportive housing in the city.
“There have been some improvements,” says Bill Woods, director of Friends of Queen Street Kingston.
“I guess our big remaining issue is still the height of the building. At 15 storeys, plus mechanicals on top, we really do feel it dwarfs the neighbourhood in terms of size and mass.”
He says these are concerns that could have been raised, if the citizens group that was formed to participate in the Ontario Land Tribunal hearing was included in the negotiations.
“I don’t think our group would have demanded four to six storeys. We understand there’s got to be give and take here.”
The city has been criticized for closed-door agreements with developers in the past, but the mayor says this agreement is now public for everyone to see.
“It’s something that council will debate and then decide at our meeting on Tuesday,” says Paterson.
“If we agree and accept the settlement, then that would mean before the tribunal we would basically be arguing in favour of this development.”
The Coalition of Kingston Communities credits the city for holding an open vote and making the agreement public.
But the coalition also says Friends of Queen Street Kingston should have been included in the settlement talks.
“It is failing by not having a planning committee meeting on the new development proposal or at least requiring staff to organize a meeting now with the residents’ group,” says Coalition of Kingston Communities.
If council approves the settlement, it will be presented to the next Ontario Land Tribunal meeting May 12th, leaving opponents one month to decide whether to carry on the fight on a street where three highrises are already being built.