The French Catholic school board has received permission from the city's planning committee to build a school on Centennial Dr., although not in the location they originally wanted.
“It wasn't our preferred option, but we're pleased that there was one option retained,” said board chair Marcel Montpellier. “Now the board has to go back and look at the different options that are available to us.”
The planning committee has approved the re-zoning from high-rise multiple residential to institutional of two lots on the south side of the street owned by Jay M Holdings, Mirror Management Limited, Vinca Estates Limited and 908498 Ontario Limited.
The school board submitted a re-zoning application for a slightly different area after their original request was denied by the planning committee last fall.
It will cost Conseil Scolaire de District Catholique du Nouvel-Ontario $700,000 more to build on this parcel of land because they will have to remove a rock outcrop.
At the same time, the school board also re-submitted their original request to have nearby land, some of it owned by the City of Greater Sudbury, re-zoned so they can build the school.
The original re-zoning request was defeated 3-2, and the new application approved 4-1.
Some councillors reasoned that by approving the new application, they are making sure all the privately-owned land in the area is covered by the school grounds.
If the school was built on a combination of city-owned and privately-owned land, there would still be one parcel of privately-owned land open where a high-rise apartment building could potentially be built, the councillors said.
Planning committee chair Frances Caldarelli said the school board was allowed to bring their original re-zoning application back to the committee because it is a new calendar year.