Residents speak out against 17-storey apartment buildings

Some residents in the downtown core said they fear proposed apartment-complex development, which would see four apartment buildings go up in the area. Residents said it will create traffic problems, destroy green space, and cause their homes to fall apart from blasting.

The matter was discussed at the planning committee’s meeting at Tom Davies Square on June 15.

A Montreal engineering and consulting firm, Centennial Enterprises, is proposing to build four 17-storey apartment buildings in Sudbury’s downtown, off Brady Street. The phased development would be over a minimum of five years.

The proposed site is a 20-acre parcel, bordered on three sides by St. Raphael, Lourdes and Van Horne Streets.

Each building would contain 250 dwelling units and would be as high as the tallest apartment buildings in the city.

Bryan Wolofsky, a principal in the family owned firm, said the total economic impact for the city could be as much as $15 to $24 million per building with 40-50 full time jobs created when complete. Most of those jobs would be in buildings designed for seniors and involve activity programming. Another building could house students.

A number of residents have sent letters of objection to the planning department, and about two dozen showed up for the public hearing. They cited increased traffic, noise and storm run-off as reasons for opposing the project. Some were concerned about loss of green space. The hilly, rocky site is heavily treed.

Several residents also raised concerns about blasting, as several of the area homes are situated right on rock. Some letters mention the blasting from construction of the new All Nations Church nearby has caused their homes to shake and begin to fall apart.

“There are a number of residential homes that abut the property,” Art Potvin, Greater Sudbury manager of development services, said. The developers have been made aware of public comments, he added.

In his presentation, Wolofsky said his company changed the orientation of the buildings to be sited at least 250 metres away from residents on Lourdes Street and St. Raphael Street.

That freed up a lot of green space — 7.4 acres — which he said could be enjoyed by the community.

If approved, Downtown Sudbury, the downtown merchants association, said the project would bring more business and life to the downtown core because of the increased number of nearby residents.

For city planners, residential development is identified as a key priority for the downtown, “as a means of stimulating increased investment and business activity, and meeting residential intensification targets,” according to their report.

Mark Koetsier, a board member of Theatre Cambrian and band member of OX, said that, in his travels around the world, he noticed successful cities have vibrant downtown cores because they have both post-secondary institutions present and residential housing.

“In terms of ensuring there is a sustainable downtown here, this project will help,” he said.

There will be implications of having up to several thousand new downtown residents, city staff said, noting a need for about 1,500 parking spaces for the four buildings.

Ward 6 Coun. André Rivest said adequate parking was a necessity in this case. He was responding to Wolofsky’s comments that the project designers were trying to minimize parking to free up more green space.

Potvin said there would be a full staff review of the project at the next hearing, to be held in the fall.