7/29/2019 DCA Comments to Planning Committee- Preston Carling Strategic Direction

1/2

Speaking Notes: Michael Powell, DCA President; Planning Committee, March

26th, 2013

Good Morning,

My name is Michael Powell, and I am president of the Dalhousie CommunityAssociation, or DCA. We are the community association that represents Chinatown

and Little Italy.

We have a number of concerns with the proposed strategic direction for Preston-

Carling.

We are very happy to see a proposal to defer a decision on the mews and road

bridges along and across the O-train corridor. Adding to the road network runs

counter to the notion of building transit- and pedestrian-oriented communities. To

exchange buildable residential land for more roads sets us back to failed 60s-era

thinking.

While the proposal before the committee is to punt the decision on these, we would

be happier still to see the concept rejected outright. You can expect that well

continue to make this point in the months ahead.

Next: allowing buildings of as tall as 9-stories along the O-train corridor. These

would not be appropriate for the narrow, residential streets west of Preston. The

current zoning allows for 4-story development, which fits the character of the

community, the geometry of the streets, and allows for density to more than double

over time.

Ill also note thatGeorge Darks report was very clear that permitting the Mews was

integral in justifying an increase in height adjacent to the O-train to 9 stories. If one

is inappropriate, so is the other. We expect that this connection will be maintained.

The DCA feels that there are two other matters with this strategic direction that are

not deferred by this motion.

Specifically, the Dark plan, almost parenthetically, allows for the low-rise area

between Preston St. and Rochester to include some mixed-uses. The DCA believes

that this area is better suited for purely residential purposes. The rest of the study

area leaves ample room for commercial development in more appropriate locations.It is better to allow for purer residential development in these places.

Finally, the proposed towers along Rochester St. are too high, with 18-story towers

bordering low-rise neighbourhoods, leaving no room for real transition.

Indeed, this row of tall buildings seems to divide two low-rise communities in half,

which is inappropriate. We feel that this street is better suited to mid-rise

7/29/2019 DCA Comments to Planning Committee- Preston Carling Strategic Direction

2/2

developments in the 9-story range. This would allow for a more meaningful

transition, as is the case in other parts of the study area that permit high-rise

development.

I want to reinforce that the community is supportive of appropriate intensification.

Its an exciting time to live in the Little Italy, and Im glad that other people arebeginning to discover our historic little community. But we want to ensure that the

CDP process preserves and improves the characters of the community that are most

important, the very things that are attracting people in the first place. For little Italy,

that includes human-scale residential neighbourhoods, which the Dark plan, as

conceived, will cripple.

We have been supportive of brownfield development on the edge of the community,

including along Carling and Champagne Avenue. We have been similarly supportive

of such developments in the Bayview study area. But intensification shouldnt mean

that everything is replaced by nothing but towers. Aggressive density targets can be

met while still protecting the parts that make the community special.

Indeed, an analysis that the DCA conducted found that this neighbourhood has

exceeded its official plan density targets for 2031 with proposals that have been

approved or that are applied for. Targets may be goals that the city wants to pass,

but I would suggest that it would be possible to reach practically any target while

preserving the community as Ive outlined.

Finally, while this report looks at strategic directions, it is important that council

begin looking now as to how it will finance the improvements to the public realm

that this CDP will require.

If we want people and families to live in the core, we need to make sure that we

offer the services that they expect. As but one example, Little Italy is vastly

underserved by recreation space- perhaps to the greatest degree anywhere in the

city. This problem will be compounded as more people move in. The final CDP must

consider how it will pay for new parks and other services, be it through Section 37

benefits or otherwise. We must build this plan into the CDP, as it should be about

community development, not just where we put what kind of new buildings.

Thank you for your time.