Email update from the Councilor’s Office

Dear neighbours,

I had the opportunity to meet with planning staff regarding the Zoning Bylaw Amendment Application for 83/85 Emerald and am providing this update on our conversation.

Application Information:

This current application is for a 70 unit multiple dwelling with the addition of a third level. Units would be 213-300 square feet each. While this Zoning By-law Amendment language references a lodging house, if successful, that is not what is being proposed by the applicant. Rather, the proposal is for a multiple dwelling – albeit an extreme multi-unit dwelling, in my opinion. This application is still under a comprehensive review by staff of multiple divisions and residents can provide comments until Sept 19, 2022.

My Concerns:
• Based on my review of this file and discussions with staff, I have a number of concerns about this application.
• Firstly, the application itself is not of high quality and does not provide the attention to detail I would expect from a developer who is wishing to work with community on their plans.
• The current application also does not provide sufficient landscape space, amenity space, nor enough allocated parking for the number of proposed units.
• Additionally, the proposal lacks a range of unit sizes for quality housing, and 300 square feet as the largest unit size is very tiny.
• Finally, packing in 70 micro units into the space, even with the proposed expansion, is out of character with the neighbourhood cohesion.

I will be providing these concerns and the other’s residents have raised to the planning department ahead of the Sept 19 deadline and I encourage all residents to do the same.

Next Steps in the Process:
Once all comments are received from the public and all corresponding city departments, Planning Division staff will provide an overview of them to the applicant with clarity about what needs to be addressed, as well as provide staff suggestions on how to address the concerns. How the applicant responds to and addresses these concerns will inform any additional recommendations staff make about this application to the Planning Committee with their recommendation to either approve or deny. I will also be watching closely and making any additional questions or concerns known throughout this process.

This application is unlikely to make it to a Planning Committee meeting until 2023 sometime. If I have the honour to serve another term of Council, I will continue paying close attention to this file and will be sure to let residents know updates and when it is scheduled to go to Committee.

Yours in Community,
Councillor Nrinder Nann She/Her
Ward 3 – City of Hamilton