Council approves development changes

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This article was published 23/02/2022 (1487 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Changes to an already-approved affordable housing development were relegitimized by Brandon City Council Tuesday evening.

First approved in 2013, an affordable housing development at 415 25th St. — the site of the field at the former Fleming School — entered the public consciousness again last year when the provincial and federal governments announced $1.56 million in funding to make it a reality.

The lot had previously been pitched as a location to build student housing by developer Kirk Brugger but went into limbo after that deal fell through.

When funding was announced last year, the plan was for the development to be two buildings comprising a total of 42 housing units.

This year, the developer submitted an updated plan for a single 48-unit building facing south instead.

To approve the changes, Damon MacGillivray spoke on behalf of the developer at a public hearing before city council at its meeting on Tuesday.

“The thing that I think makes this so good are the amenities that are located so close to it,” MacGillivray said. “In almost the same parking lot, we have a doctor’s office, dentist’s office, food, financial institutions.”

Brugger owns buildings in developments south of the housing development, which shows his capacity to get the project done properly, he said.

Last year, he said a public hearing was held to hear concerns from local residents about the development. Their biggest concerns were parking, the tenants who would occupy the new building and construction.

To get around the parking issues, MacGillivray said the new proposal would see reserved parking on the south end of the lot dedicated to residents to not worsen already challenging parking on 25th Street.

Another concern locals had was the low-income housing aspect of the plan, but this development is for families making a certain amount of money per year.

He did concede that there would be noise relating to the project, but work is being done to create a plan that would limit disruptions.

Speaking against the development was Josh Seeland, who said he lives across the street from the development on 25th Street.

He expressed concerns that the development would increase the population density in the neighbourhood, which has been linked to lowered property values and increased stress, fatigue, traffic and crime. Another concern was the elimination of green space in an area that already has flooding issues.

“Even with a parking lot, this increased parking, noise and pollution from traffic is also a reality,” Seeland said. “That intersection at 25th and Louise [Avenue] is already in desperate need of a four-way stop. It’s a pretty popular shortcut for people to take to get into that commercial lot and it’s only a matter of time, I think, before one of the kids who goes up to that bus stop — including mine — is gonna be hit.”

According to him, because of the uncertainty surrounding who exactly will move into this development when finished and how tenants will be managed, at least three families are trying to sell their homes and move as a result.

When it came time to approve the revised plan, Coun. Shaun Cameron (University) asked the city’s director of planning and buildings Ryan Nickel if adding 48 housing units to the neighbourhood would negatively impact drainage.

“Is this going to make it worse? No,” Nickel said. “They have to still manage their drainage on-site, so they won’t be permitted to dump in the system at an uncontrolled rate.”

Ultimately, Cameron decided to vote against the motion in support of constituents who have argued against it. He said he believed he knew the motion would pass but wanted his vote to be symbolic.

“This is no fault of our planning department and no fault of the developers as well,” Cameron said. “I feel that the process itself was somewhat flawed. Although the initial approval was sought and received in 2013 — which was prior to my time on council — it still has caused some hardship on residents near the property since almost a decade has passed since that consultation.

“At the end of the day, we know the project will proceed this evening and the developer has done their due diligence in receiving residents’ feedback from the recent public consultations and again this evening. But it does come a little bit late in the process for many of the residents who felt unable to provide feedback on a development that was decided prior to some of them purchasing their homes or moving into the neighbourhood.”

Council voted to approve the development, with only Cameron in opposition.

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