12-storey apartment buildings approved despite community opposition in Mississauga

Two 12-storey apartment buildings with affordable housing units were approved despite objections from the community.

The project is for 4094 Tomken Rd. and 924 Rathburn Rd. E., currently home to Westminster United Church and a seven-storey apartment building.

The United Church is working with Kindred Works, a development company that creates sustainable, mixed-income homes on urban infill properties.

The plan is to add two 12-storey apartment buildings to the property with 30 per cent affordable rental units. There would be a total of 250 units comprised of 158 one-bedroom units, 62 two-bedroom units, and 30 three-bedroom units.

The church and seven-storey apartment building will remain on the site.

The development plan was revised after community input but area residents were still not happy. One resident even threatened to vote Ward 3 Councillor Chris Fonseca out of office if the plan was approved.

“If this amendment is passed, you will pay the political price, we will work tirelessly against you to make sure this is your last term in office,” the resident said at the Nov. 25 Planning and Development Committee meeting.

Mayor Carolyn Parrish told the resident he was rude to Fonseca and staff.

“I am very disappointed,” Parrish said.

The main issue was the height of the buildings and the shadow that would be cast on homes surrounding the development. Some homes backyards will be in shadow in the summer from just after 4 p.m., said Eugene Gierczak speaking on behalf of residents on Wetherby Lane.

“When people come home from work, they will be in complete shadow,” Gierczak said. “Those people will not be able to enjoy their backyards…”

He suggested the heights of the buildings should be reduced to seven storeys.

Ashlee Rivet-Boyle, City of Mississauga development manager, said the properties on Wetherby would have nine consecutive hours of sunlight during the summer. The project does “bend” some of the city’s sun-shadow standards, she added.

“They are just standards, they are guidelines and staff feel that there has been more than enough effort put in by the applicant to find alternatives…” said Rivet-Boyle.

The development will negatively impact the community’s style of living, said Athina Tagidou, speaking on behalf of architect Wojtek Holownia and community members. The property, at a major intersection, is “too important to be destroyed so easily,” Tagidou said.

“The height is the key issue here, the 12 storeys,” she added. She felt seven stories would be more welcome in the community.

She also mentioned the impact tall buildings have on the environment.

But Andrew Whittemore, commissioner of planning and building, suggested the developer worked hard on meeting the city’s new green standards and addressing the need for affordable housing.

“I feel this project and this developer should be congratulated for the efforts they put into addressing these standards as well as affordable housing, which we desperately need in the City of Mississauga,” Whittemore said.

Committee members agreed and unanimously passed the amendments.

For more information see the meeting here.

Renderings: City of Mississauga submission