A proposal for a new housing development near the downtown core will be going to a city committee on Monday.
A report will be going to the Development and Heritage Standing Committee next week asking to approve the rezoning for the development which will be six-storey's tall with 54 units.
The development consists of two parcels of land, one parcel on the west side of Windsor Avenue just north of Giles Blvd. East which would be a parking lot, and the second parcel on the east side of Goyeau Street just north of Giles and just south of the Windsor Regional Hospital Ouellette Campus.
The parking lot will feature 84 total parking spaces, and four bike spaces.
The developer is requesting to change the zoning to a residential district to allow for the build.
Mark McKenzie, ward 4 councillor and committee member, says this is the type of infill development that the city needs.
"We've already approved numerous developments and rezoning's in the downtown core just this term alone - and we're not going to stop. I mean, we have multiple developers that are coming to the table and saying 'look, we want to start developing downtown'."
He says he wants to know when the developer plans to put a shovel in the ground.
"The tricky thing here is that we do approve these developments, and then they don't actually break ground on this, so that's definitely going to be a question that I ask for the developer, I'm going to say 'when do you plan on breaking ground?' because again we've approved numerous projects - in not only downtown, but throughout the city - unfortunately it's just not affordable for a lot of these developers to break ground so they're kind of just waiting."
McKenzie says he's not concerned about the proposed height.
"You look at the buildings on Ouellette and Tecumseh, and even the one behind it there on Tecumseh and Goyeau, I don't have any concerns about the height. I think six-storey's... I don't see many residents even in the area having a concern with that. There's many buildings in that area that are much higher than that."
Currently an alley divides the two land parcels, and vehicle access is from Goyeau and the alley. The applicant is also proposing for a new vehicle access point from Windsor Avenue.
A Stormwater Management Report states that the drainage is sufficient for the build, and a Shadow Study states that the proposed development will have minimal impact to surrounding residences.
If approved by the committee, it will still require final approval from city council.
The committee will meet on Monday, October 7, at 4:30 p.m.