Message from Preserve Our Special Town (POST) regarding Parliament Oak School redevelopment proposal in Niagara-on-the-Lake; public meeting live-streamed Monday, Jan. 10, 2022 at 6 pm

Click here to access message regarding Parliament Oak School Redevelopment >

An excerpt reads:

Update and Reminder of Public Meeting on Monday, January 10, 2022 at 6 pm regarding the Parliament Oak School site.

Thank you all for your continued support and encouragement!  To date the Preserve Our Special Town website: postofnotl.com has had over 400 visits, 219 visits to the “Help Us” page and 59 people have subscribed to our mailing list. There have been several letters to our local newspapers, The Lake Report and The Local, and 2 large articles about POST’s efforts and concerns have been published there.

Proposed Parliament Oak redevelopment. Image source: July 7, 2021 Niagara Now article entitled: “Parliament Oak plan ‘outrageous,’ incompatible with Old Town, residents say.”

We believe that there is a groundswell of public opposition to this ill-conceived development proposal, but it is so important that people show up on Monday to voice their objections. Members of the POST team have registered to speak and we encourage all concerned residents to do so.   There is strength in numbers and we want council to see just how upset this community is about proposals like this which will destroy our special town.  The density of this development is over 500% greater than the surrounding neighbourhood!

If you wish to make any oral comments on the proposal, you must register in advance, and no later than 12 noon on Monday, January 10, 2022, by emailing the Town Clerk at clerks@notl.com

[ Click here for further details regarding emailing > ]

The Town Clerk will send you a link to the Public Meeting which will take place on Microsoft Teams.  Your comments can simply express your opposition to the proposal and some of the reasons why.  Each speaker will be allotted up to 10 minutes to make their views known.  A summary of POST’s objections to the plan may be found at:

https://www.postofnotl.com/copy-of-parliament-oak-plan

The Public Meeting will also be live-streamed at livestream.com/notl.

A reminder also that everyone has the opportunity to submit written comments concerning the proposal. These comments must be submitted before the matter goes to council for a decision. Written comments on the proposal are to be submitted to the Town Clerk at clerks@notl.com referencing the Town’s file numbers: OPA-04-2021 and ZBA-08-2021 – 325 King Street, Niagara on the Lake.

Background

For background about this land use story from Niagara-on-the-Lake, a good place to start is a July 7, 2021 Niagara Now article entitled: “Parliament Oak plan ‘outrageous,’ incompatible with Old Town, residents say: Proposal for 92 units, including apartment building, faces backlash at open house.”

An excerpt reads:

A proposed development on the old Parliament Oak school property is “outrageous,” inappropriate and ignores the character of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Old Town area, residents told a virtual open house meeting about the project Tuesday.

Residents were highly critical of the proposed density, size of a planned apartment building and what they view as lack of conformity with the town.

Liberty Sites (3) Ltd. is proposing an 80-unit, three-storey apartment building and 12 semi-detached homes on the former school property.

“There is absolutely no question that this is an outrageous and flagrant disregard for the character of this neighbourhood and the houses in the neighbourhood,” NOTL resident Alan Gordon told the development team.

The development will have 92 units on four acres of land resulting in 23 units per acre.

The town’s maximum allowed density for an intensification area as stated in the official plan is 12 units per acre, Gordon said.

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