Armed with a petition signed by his neighbours, Gerry Fleming appeared at council this week to speak out against proposed apartments being built on his street.
“Everyone in our neighbourhood disagreed with this,” he said, referring to a proposal to build two three-storey buildings at the northeast corner of Cunningham and Lyndon Street West.
The property containing three separate single dwellings—located at 22 Cunningham Street, and 10 and 12 Lyndon Street West—has been consolidated into one single property, in hopes of replacing the former homes with a total of six units at each of the two buildings.
Presentations of the proposal were made by the city’s intermediate planner, Paul Klassen, and Dan Romanko, planning consultant with Better Neighbourhoods.
According to Romanko, the two buildings would be “geared towards seniors,” include 20 parking spaces at the rear, and be designed with “distinct architecture,” so they wouldn’t be identical in appearance.
“Why do we need another 20 cars running up and down Lyndon Street?” demanded Fleming. “It’s supposed to be for seniors, but we know it’s going to be Brock students” who live there, he speculated.
“I’m not saying they’re all bad,” he added. “But with this new building, I won’t be able to sit in my own backyard and have privacy.”
Coun. Ken Sentance asked, “If there was a way to guarantee that it was a seniors’ building, would that change your mind?”
“Probably not,” replied Fleming. “Seniors would have trouble backing up out of their driveways, because the trains (that pass near the intersection) don’t honk anymore. Cars go through (stop signs) without stopping, and at 5:45, everyone’s in a hurry to get to the Beer Store before it closes,” he said, located on Ormond Street at the end of Lyndon. “Then they’re in a hurry to go race home and drink it.”
Klassen said “Noise mitigation measures would be implemented,” to reduce impact of the passing trains.
This comment prompted Coun. Jim Handley to ask, “Why not triple-glazed windows facing the railroad line, instead of double-glazed?” He added, “I only ask because we’re dealing with a similar situation in Port Robinson.”
“We will investigate whether that’s a possibility to implement,” answered Klassen.
Fleming’s comments—and petition—will be considered by the planning department before a decision is made on the proposal.
