A meeting Wednesday night in the William Lea Room aired concerns about the proposal to build an eight storey “condominium-apartment” on the old Canada Catering site as well as on the small warehouse next door occupied by Gallery Sixtyeight Auctions. The two pieces of land are now known as 3&5 Southvale Drive. The property sits immediately beside the Leaside Memorial Gardens and at the end of uninterrupted row of two-storey and bungalow homes which stretch all the way to Mallory Crescent. The Southvale site is zoned in the same way as the homes — Neighborhood. The limit is four storeys. 3&5 Southvale will require Council to approve a change to Neighbourhood-Apartment.
JON BURNSIDE
Councillor Jon Burnside made a few opening remarks. He acknowledged the presence of developer Shane Baghai and his wife. Burnside said that the scale of the project was the smallest of the many proposed for Leaside in recent months but he had concerns about this project which went beyond the actual proposed size of 3&5 Southvale. It is planned for 98 units. The sense of some concern present was that the project might set a precedent which placed that long line of homes in jeopardy. (In past decades the technique of so-called blockbusting has been employed by developers. It involved the buying up of homes, letting them run down to make the purchase of others easier, and then applying for redevelopment — Ed)
ANDREW BIGAUSKAS
On behalf of the developer, architect Andrew Bigauskas spoke in warm terms of the design and amenities of 3&5 Southvale. He noted the five-storey seniors’ residence across Southvale on Millwood Rd. and suggested that it and his own proposal formed a suitable boundary for taller structures to the east of residential Leaside. A contentious issue for those who attend Leaside arena was the proposed use of the arena laneway as access to the condo parking garage. The plans call for a garage entrance at the rear of the building which would enclose the ramp to the 97-car garage. Many fear congestion as unit owners and arena patrons create gridlock in the narrow exit. A traffic consultant for the developer told the meeting studies suggested that a 98-unit building would generate cars leaving in the morning peak of about 35 cars an hour. These would be vehicles making a left hand turn onto the arena drive across two lanes of traffic. In the afternoon, it was estimated cars coming home might peak at 17. These vehicles would be making a right hand turn into the garage.
