An expansion approval for a local medical building has led to active transportation concerns within the city's Industrial Park area.
The city's Development and Heritage Standing Committee met on Wednesday afternoon with one report looking for approval of a zoning change to expand the current medical building at 7900 Anchor Drive and 8100 Twin Oaks Drive.
The site currently contains two, one-storey medical office buildings with a shared parking lot. The developer is looking to connect the two buildings, and add second-floor additions to both buildings to increase space.
The building offers a range of medical offices, such as a pharmacy, fertility treatments, and women's wellness services.
Committee member and ward 9 councillor, Kieran McKenzie, says he likes the expansion but is worried about the lack of appropriate active transportation infrastructure in the Industrial Park area as that section of the city continues to grow.
McKenzie says the issue with that area is there is only one way in and out, there are no sidewalks, there are no bicycle paths, and while transit does go into that area - it faces challenges by not having a proper transit terminal where a bus could make a full turn.
He says he has no concerns with the proposal itself, but it worried about transportation in that area.
"It'll employ more people, it'll provide additional capacity for medical services - fertility medical services - in our community that are in demand. So those are some great things about what's being proposed. What needs to happen as people continue to invest in our community, that we as a city continue to invest in the infrastructure that can support that growth."
McKenzie says the report had implied that there wasn't a need for improved active transportation infrastructure - which is deeply concerning.
"I firmly believe that there needs to be sidewalk infrastructure, we need to have the capacity for a bus to be able to service that entire are, as well as active transportation infrastructure - bike lanes that can not only get people around within the Industrial Park, but to get into it from outside of the Industrial Park."
He says currently a transit bus can fully turn around in that area, but it's not in an ideal location.
"We are in the process of building a proper transit terminal where a bus will be able to make a full 360 degree turn. Currently, and for the foreseeable future, the Twin Oaks Industrial subdivision will only have one point of entry, and that same point of exit. So that creates a challenge for transit for sure."
The zoning change was approved by the committee and will now go to city council for final approval.
McKenzie says there's a report coming to council in the next few months regarding ways to address transportation challenges in the Industrial Park area.