The proposed 2025 plan under…

The proposed 2025 plan under current consideration of the MZO is very different than the original development plan presented to the public in 2022.

Where the original plan involved in-put from the public and included discussion with the local neighbourhood association, the new proposal has been significantly intensified without public consultation, without study and lacks consideration of its impact on the community, neighbourhood character and local traffic planning.

The original plan proposed a 12-storey market rate building. The current plan increases this building height to 20-storeys. A 20-storey building greatly exceeds the maximum 6-storey height limit set by Hamilton’s Setting Sail Secondary Plan, which was developed through public consultation. A 20-storey building will negatively affect the neighbourhood’s character, create traffic and infrastructure pressures, and impact livability.

Two affordable housing projects proposed for the same site have now doubled in size; increasing them from 6 to 12 storeys each. Again, greatly exceeding the maximum 6-storey height limit set by Hamilton’s Setting Sail Secondary Plan, which was developed through public consultation.

The original plan proposed 447 units in a mixed income community. The number of units has now been increased to as much as 642 units. This is an increase of an additional 195 units.

The new plan prioritizes market-rate housing first, delaying affordable housing for displaced residents. With the current state of the condo market, there is no reason to believe that the development team will be willing to begin construction of the tower if sales are weak.

The site is located at what the City has referred to the “Gateway to the North End” and to Hamilton’s Waterfront. Established signage near Jamesville also states that the North-End is a “Family Friendly Community”. There is no indication that the current development plan has taken this into consideration as an opportunity to create a welcoming neighbourhood plan. The original plan offered some step-back from the intersection with a landscaped corner plaza and pedestrian linkages to sidewalks and the Strachan linear park. The new proposal offers limited greenspace and the building plan appears to make no effort to address this significant intersection at the corner of James Street and Strachan Street. There is no street presence proposed; it is simply shown as the corner of a 20-storey building with limited step-back from the street. Priority has been placed on density over good-design that supports community character.

Where the community requested that there be no through-streets to help maintain traffic planning and improve pedestrian safety, the original design took this into consideration. However the new proposal creates a through-way, extending Simcoe Street between James St. North and MacNab St. North. Allowing traffic to flow through the site in alignment with the existing Simcoe St. will drive traffic directly towards an established school zone and the front door of Bennetto Elementary School located east of the site, within a 1-block distance, on Simcoe St. E. at Hughson St. N.

With the new plan, it appears that available on-site surface parking for visitors has been eliminated and that resident parking has been greatly reduced. Despite the perceived notion that residents and visitors will rely on public transit, cycle or have no need for motorized vehicles, this is a mis-guided and unsupported perspective. This has proven to be incorrect at other local projects. For Example: Indwell’s North End Landing Affordable Housing project located at 15 Picton St. E., Hamilton, which shares space with James North Baptist Church. For this project it was assumed residents of the affordable housing units would not own cars. In reality, many of the residents do own vehicles and residents and members of the associated church are now challenged to share the limited parking provide on-site.

Providing adequate parking on-site to service the residents and their visitors is key to the success of the Jamesville development. Currently, there is limited parking available in the neighbourhood and great pressure on existing parking facilities. This is especially significant at peak times and when there are special events nearby. This site is located within walking distance of Bayfront and Pier 4 parks which are the sites of many large-scale community, and City-promoted, gatherings and events. Increasing the number of units and reducing available parking will put significant un-due stress on the neighbourhood. In addition to this, please note that many homes within the neighbourhood do not have driveways. Existing residents must rely on available street parking. Street parking becomes increasingly difficult to find on existing narrow streets; especially during winter months. Adding the traffic of 642 new units to the area will have significant impact on the community.

CN Rail has raised concerns about the site’s proximity to the rail yard, but no public mitigation plans or technical evidence have been shared to show how the site and a newly proposed 20 story tower addresses these issues.

As a resident of this neighbourhood, I can attest to the noise, vibrations, odours, air-born pollutants and dirt that comes from the CN rail lines and the shunting yard. This is something that community members and the Neighbourhood Association have consistently asked CN to address. CN has made little to no effort to mitigate the pollution they cause daily. Engines are left running for hours in the shunting yard, exhausting pollutants into the air.

There is local precedent for successful new residential construction within proximity to the CN Rail lines. Witton Lofts is located at 50 Murray Street West. The developer of this project worked with CN to mitigate the environmental concerns caused by a railyard. This included having conditions written into purchase agreements as well as including design elements such as enclosed balconies and triple-glazed window systems. For Jamesville, neither the City nor the Developer Consortium have demonstrated a willingness to make similar concessions to mitigate environmental concerns through design. This may very well be the real problem and reason why the Jamesville development has been delayed; lack of cooperation.

This MZO bypasses local democratic planning processes and community input, undermining trust in fair development decisions. Requesting an MZO reduces accountability and transparency, avoids environmental assessments, and typically benefits the private interests of developers, over the needs of the community.

I do not support the new Jamesville Redevelopment Plan that was created behind closed doors. The new proposal has been significantly intensified without public consultation, without study and lacks consideration of its impact on the community, neighbourhood character and local traffic planning. The new proposal conflicts with existing planning policies and guidelines for the area.

The Minister should reject the current plan for high rise development of 20 storeys and increased density as there was no open public input, engagement or discussion.

The Minister should use the zoning order to approve the original plan (2022) coordinated with public input between the community and developer.

The Minister should encourage all parties (City, Developer Consortium and CN) to work together to negotiate a way to move forward with a plan that meets local planning policies, limits the impacts on the neighbourhood and its infrastructure and supports the character of the community.