A special meeting of Amherstburg Council took place Monday to look at a proposed development next to the former General Chemical property.
Piroli Construction’s proposed 6-story apartment building running along Sandwich Street North and Brunner avenue had generally mixed reactions from locals present during Monday’s council meeting, including concerns over parking and nearby industrial land use.
Current plans call for at least one parking spot per resident, and 7 visitor parking spots at the proposed building, but other present locals say a mixture of street parking from people going to to the marina, and visitors to the proposed building parking on the street due to a lack of parking on-site, would cause trouble on local roads.
Residents across the street from the site of the would-be apartment development say parking is in short supply already, and it doesn’t seem like Piroli has any plan to soothe that issue.
“We have so much traffic from the Marina because it’s only private there, so all that road is always congested,” says one concerned resident. “All the families that live there now that have two cars and park on the road; they’re not going to be able to park at all. It’s just going to be too much for us.”
Councillors Michael Prue and Peter Courtney, meanwhile, recognize parking isn’t the only issue to consider. Just north of the site in question is land that is zoned for industrial use.
“We’ve gotta be cognizant when we’re doing a high rise, and things like that. A stamping plant, the vibrations in the building- I know we’re not going super high, but high enough that the impacts can be there, so, I'm looking for the cohabitation part of it,” said Courtney, who supports the development.
Rob Peroli, Owner of the company seeking to build on the land, says there aren’t any plans to meddle in future industrial development north of the site.
“There were suggestions that they’d been trying to get something going under the heavy industrial zone for possibly 20 years, they suggested maybe a land use change would be helpful,” Peroli began. “Again, as long as future developments don’t impede what we’re suggesting today, I have no need to appeal developments to the north of us.”
At the meeting, some residents said they felt misled by a support petition they allege was presented as a sign-in form to the previous March 9th meeting.
Council also noted that the design of the building may change before the final stage of planning, after plans are combed over by Amherstburg’s Heritage Committee.
Council voted unanimously to compile the information from Monday’s meeting and bring it forward.