A condo development at Roseland Golf Course is one step closer to a reality following approval from a city committee.
Windsor’s Development and Heritage Committee met Monday with one report looking for approval to rezone the lands at 455 Kennedy Drive to allow for a four-storey condo consisting of 48 units, 85 above-ground parking spots, and 74 underground parking spaces.
In April, the city announced the $33-million “Residences at Roseland” condo with one-, two- and three-bedroom suites priced roughly between $400,000 and $1-million.
Rezoning approval is required to allow for the build, and city administration states there are no concerns with traffic impacts, sewer or stormwater capacity as it will be addressed during conceptual site design.
Committee member and ward 1 councillor, Fred Francis, has been very openly opposed to this build, and stated concerns over stormwater capacity, a lack of appraisal for the 1.3-acres of land, and being fair when it comes to other builds in the area.
City administration stated during the meeting that the option to have a formal appraisal of the lands was waived by city council during the Housing Solutions Made for Windsor process - something Francis says he does not remember being consulted about on or off camera.
He says the developer is buying the land for $1.5-million - which he and residents believe is undervalued.
“You hire appraisal, you get a certified appraisal, you know what it’s worth and you sell it for what it’s worth... the fact that city council doesn’t want to do that is ridiculous to me. It’s public land, that land is owned by the taxpayer, if you’re going to sell it you should probably know what it’s valued at so you can get top dollar for it... anything else is just shortchanging the taxpayer.”
Francis says the concern is that other city lands could be sold for not what they are worth.
“Are you willing to do that at Willistead, are you willing to do that along the riverfront? We have a policy for a reason, and it doesn’t take a lot of money, and it wouldn’t take a lot of time to get a professional appraiser to actually appraise the land and tell you exactly what it’s worth. So that’s a huge concern that I’m hearing from residents.”
Council recently approved a three-storey housing development a few blocks away at the corner of Cabana Road West at Casgrain Drive where council was told three-storey’s was the tallest they could go.
He says it doesn’t make sense for the condo development at Roseland to be four-storey’s when the development on Cabana couldn’t be.
“If a four-storey development would not be approved on Cabana which is four lanes in both directions, sidewalks, transit, everything... how do you approve a four-storey development inside a neighbourhood with single-family homes around it. That makes even less sense to me.”
Francis put forward a motion to oppose the rezoning which was supported by ward 7 councillor Angelo Marignani - which failed.
Ward 4 councillor Mark McKenzie put forward a motion to approve the rezoning, which was supported by ward 10 councillor Jim Morrison and committee member Anthony Arbour. Ward 9 councillor Kieran McKenzie was absent.
Francis says residents will still have a chance to speak out when the rezoning goes to city council for final approval.