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G.V. plans spark concerns with neighbours 0

Benjamin Aube

By Benjamin Aubé


A group of local developers is looking to refurbish a former bar and turn it into affordable housing geared towards seniors and people with disabilities.

One of the investors in the project, Michael Perello, was at city council to answer questions from councillors. He also addressed concerns of residents opposed to turning the former G.V. Hotel at 124 Sixth Ave. into a three-storey, 34-unit apartment complex.

Developers are attempting to rezone the land from its current status of General Commercial and Residential Third Density to Residential Medium Density.

However, council made it clear that developers would have to appease the concerns of nearby residents.

Birch St. N resident Colleen McIlwain presented a petition containing 88 signatures opposing the amendments on behalf of neighbours in the area.

She said they were concerned about the developer proposing to reduce the number of off-street parking spaces for the unit to 30. She also wondered where all the snow would go once it was removed from the parking lots designated for the building.

"This is a very big problem we have, not enough parking spots for people renting and they end up in front of our driveway," explained McIlwain. "Also, when snow is removed, they have nowhere to put it, so they put it in front of our yard, and many others. It's a domino effect."

She added that Sixth Ave. is a school bus route and that there is "very heavy traffic with children walking and buses stopping" in the neighbourhood.

Coun. Pat Bamford brought up another concern, this one associated with the less-than-stellar reputation the old G.V. left behind when it closed.

"I think one of the concerns stems from the fact that we all know that in latter years, this location had certain undesirable clientele that were actually spilling out on the street and in the neighbourhood," Bamford said to Perello. "What would you have to say about that?"

Perello responded, "This is going to be something completely different. There's not going to be a bar there anymore, this is just going to be housing. From my perspective, this is going to have a lot less traffic when we're finished with it as an apartment building than it did as a bar. Now it's just basically dead space there."

Perello said the two property owners next door had recently agreed to sell their parking lots to the developers. He said that would be plenty to accommodate the 30 spaces necessary. As for traffic, Perello offered his point of view.

"Obviously there's a lot less traffic now (than if the apartments were built), but it's dead space," he said. "I see that more as a risk, a building that's dilapidated and falling apart, there's more risk for injury with a building like that existing. We're looking to take that and improve that little corner of the town by putting this building in there."

He also addressed the snow removal issue.

"I own a company that does probably the majority of snow removal in town. That place won't have snow issues."

With many councillors and residents still tentative to let go of the building's past, Perello explained his vision of what the new three-storey apartment building could achieve.

"We're going to be gearing this more towards older people, people who don't necessarily have a car," he said. "We've had meetings with CDSSAB (Cochrane District Social Services Administration Board) about what the requirements are for some of the more needy people in the community for space.

“One of big things they were telling was not it's so much parking, because a lot of these people don't have vehicle, but they do need places to park their scooters. So this building will actually have a room for parking those things and plugging them in. It will also have an elevator in it so it will be accessible for everybody."

With the city in the midst of a housing crisis and a high demand for affordable and low-income housing, a new and accessible apartment complex close to the downtown core could be part of the solution. But Coun. Steve Black said the city should proceed with caution.

"I admire what you're doing, investing in the community, we definitely need that and we definitely need more housing," said Black. adding he didn't want to make the decision hiding behind the social problems the city might be facing.

"It does fill some needs but I do understand the concerns and don't want to dance around them focusing and playing on the social aspect," said Black. "It's a business you're proposing, and I'm all for that and hope you're successful. But I do want to focus more on the concerns that have been raised here tonight."

Coun. Michael Doody said it is vital for Perello to keep neighbours informed.

"I can tell you right now that the people that are here want you to do it right, they don't want to be living near what was there before,” Doody said.

"I think it's going to have to be up to you to really sell these people there on what's going to be built there, what you're going to allow there, what the quality of that particular building is going to be. I think you'll have to continue to meet with the neighbourhood, because it's going to be up to them whether it goes or not. That's what we go by.

"They just don't want a repeat of what was there, whether it's parking, or whether – I hate to use the phrase – it's the type of people that are living there. How can anybody be against it if it's a good senior, a good couple looking for a place to live and it's in a good facility?"

Perello agreed with council's recommendation to come back with clear plans and designs of what the building will look like.

"The next step would be to get something to show everybody what this place is going to look like and get everybody on board," he said.

If things move forward, said Perello, the building could be gutted, refurbished and closed down by this fall and be ready for tenants in the spring of 2014.

Due to the previous building's high ceilings, the new apartment would only be at most “a foot or two taller” than it was before, despite the addition of a third floor.

Coun. Gary Scripnick thanked Perello for his interest in the community's development and made reference to The Walford retirement residence at the end of Tamarack St. and the uproar it initially caused among neighbours.

"People don't like change. But with time, they put up a beautiful building and all those concerns went away," Scripnick said. "I think you have a selling job to do. I think you need a drawing of this building, you need to show residents what is going to go there."

Scripnick added that the building is still zoned as a commercial residence, meaning it could be carte blanche for another developer with different ideas.

"It could be a hotel again in the future if your plans for a building don't go up," Scirpnick pointed out.

"That's something the residents might not like, but it's zoned for that. So what you're (Perello) proposing might be something that, once the residents see it, once you address their concerns of parking, snow removal, once you go through those processes, it might be an easier sell.

"A unit like that is probably something that would fit in that area when you go through the different concerns."

Coun. Noella Rinaldo said, if done right, the project would be an improvement for the neighbourhood.

"I do ask people in that area to remember what the building was and what it could be," she said. "It's been a dilapidated building sitting there for a long time.

"There might be potential here to improve that area and also help the price of their houses go up a little bit. I think what (Perello) is proposing would definitely be an improvement over what possibly could be there."

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