A Saskatoon developer has proposed rezoning in the Broadway and Buena Vista neighbourbood so a six-story structure can be built.
The rezoning proposal, suggested by Saska Land Development Holdings Corporation would affect 528 8th Street East, 1100 to 1122 blocks of Broadway Avenue, and 529 7th Street East.
Rezoning the sites from ‘residential’ to ‘corridor main street’, would allow for two six-storey buildings, joined by a central lobby, to be built in the neighbourhood. A total of 90 apartment units would sit above the ground level, which would be strictly used for commercial and office spaces.
“Corridor Main Street areas are intended to enhance existing character, function and built form in historic or significant commercial districts,” read the proposal application.
The streets have evolved in conjunction with transit services.
The application argues the rezoning would support the city’s goals of accommodating 15 per cent of total growth within corridor growth areas, supporting more bus transit and providing more access to commercial businesses and employment opportunities.
“I can say that the proposal aligns with a number of directives in the Official Community Plan, including growth, infill and pushing density to the outskirts of neighbourhoods along transportation corridors. However, it diverges in some ways, as well,” said Cynthia Block, councillor for Ward 6.
She declined an interview with Global News Monday but said she will certainly have questions about the proposal for council at the next hearing.
Buena Vista residents are voicing their concerns over parking availability in the area after learning that 139 new parking spaces are being proposed for the project.
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The application claimed the spaces would be a combination of surface and underground parking.
“This is on two high-traffic areas, 8th and Broadway, so we have to be very careful that we don’t overload this with traffic and parking,” said Buena Vista resident Gary Thorinson. “You’re actually destroying a neighbourhood when you put this in here.”
Thorinson said he has had conversations with city administration and called Mayor Charlie Clark and Councillor Block ‘pro-growth’.
“We have to pull it back and say that we still need to make these neighbourhoods livable,” Thorinson said. “We haven’t even got to study this area of the corridor of growth plan.”
Saskatoon’s corridor of growth plan is looking at making high traffic streets like 8th and 22nd Street, more than just transit routes.
“As part of Saskatoon’s Plan for Growth, these corridors will be re-imagined. They will serve as connections between neighbourhoods and to the broader city, provide safe and convenient access to our Bus Rapid Transit system, and offer housing choices and employment to a wide variety of people from all walks of life,” reads the City of Saskatoon website.
Despite his criticism, Thorinson said he is pro-development.
“With a few modifications, there needs to be two floors less, it needs to have very specified commercial, so it fits with the neighborhood, and you have to blend it into the neighbourhood.”
He said with these changes, the structure would be beneficial for the area.
DeeAnn Mercier, executive director of the Broadway Business Improvement District said the development would further the goals of Broadway 360, a project to improve Broadway Avenue through new building design.
She submitted a letter to City Council in favor of the development saying it would encourage public and active transportation, reinforce sustainable growth patterns, and revitalize the property.
Mercier noted that the property has been vacant for the past three decades on one of the more prominent centralized corners of the city.
Council will discuss proposals and hear public concerns April 26 at a public hearing meeting.
Thorinson said he will be speaking.
“We need to have a better system and better screening. More involvement of the public.”
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