- Eddie Chau / Mar 31, 2011
Port Colborne’s Downtown BIA is gung-ho about promoting business.
But when city council quietly approved a zoning amendment to permit four ground-floor dwellings in the Winchester Arms restaurant it concerned some of the BIA’s members.
“The BIA is about promoting the downtown area as a tourist area,” said BIA chair Bob Porter. “We have strong feelings in preventing such permissions (for residential dwellings) to be granted.”
The zoning amendment in question involves 239 King Street, the site of the Winchester Arms. In fall 2009 Winchester Arms owner John Lee approached the city for an zoning bylaw amendment to permit the construction of 14 accessory apartments in the building in an effort to boost his struggling business.
At the time the proposed rezoning was met with objection from business owners and some members of council. This year, an amendment was made to the original plan to construct four accessory units on the ground floor and one in the basement.
The remaining 189 square meters of space will continue to be used for the restaurant a report stated.
“Concerns were brought up at our last BIA meeting about it,” Porter said of the issue. “St. Catharines council had passed a bylaw which prohibits construction of ground floor dwellings. We hope Port Colborne could do the same.”
Porter noted an incident two years ago when city council turned down an application for the development of a residential unit on the ground floor of a commercial building on King Street. He doesn’t understand how one can be turned down while another was approved.
Porter said a letter will be sent to council next week regarding the concerns.
City planning director Dan Aquilina said the proponent submitted a revised plan in 2010 with the reduction in room numbers. The revised proposal conformed with the region’s policy plan along with the city’s official plan.
Ward 3 Coun. Bea Kenny was a member of the last council which was concerned about the original development plans. While Kenny was part of current council which voted in favour of the new proposal, she doesn’t want to see prime commercial property turned into residential units.
“In my opinion this does not fit in what we want for our downtown business district.”
Ward 1 Coun. Dave Elliott said there is a current bylaw which does not permit residential units on ground floor of commercial operations. But for any planning application a zoning amendment can be requested by a developer.
“Each case has to be judged for its own merits,” Elliott said. “Because there’s still a restaurant on the ground floor, it’s still has commercial purposes. That’s why I supported it.”
As a council representative on the downtown BIA, Elliott said had he known the concerns of the organization, he would’ve handled the decision differently.
Elliott said he will consider the BIA’s perspective for future applications.
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