“I think it says that we really care and we’re going to hold you accountable.”
At least 200 concerned residents filled the gym at the former Douglas Park school on Thursday, primed with questions on a proposed apartment making its way through city tenders right now.
Chera Kichula, designated spokesperson for the neighbourhood organizers and the Boothill Community Association, said people in the area are overwhelmingly opposed to a developer seeking to build a five-storey, 90-unit apartment building with 90 daycare spaces.
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Located at 535 Douglas Ave. but facing 20th Avenue, the apartment would be immediately adjacent to École Monseigneur de Laval school, which moved into what was formerly St. Andrew School temporarily after it was closed in 2016 by the Regina Catholic School Division.
Regina Catholic owned the property until July of this year, when it was sold to the Regina Christian School Association, an associate school with Regina Public.
RCSA is noted in the development proposal as the property holder, and The Winchester Group (TWG) is listed as the developer.
The Douglas Avenue apartments would be TWG’s first residential project, and the units will be condos, not tagged to be low-income or affordable housing.
The document, available from the city’s website, seeks to subdivide the parcel and rezone a portion as a high-density, highrise zone with discretionary use, from current industrial, to accommodate the apartment building.
The community’s main issue is with the build’s size and cohesiveness with the surrounding neighbourhood, expressed in full at a public forum on Thursday.
Kichula said the proposed development doesn’t meet existing height restrictions, or comply with the Official Community Plan on density limits or where to locate infill projects.
What the additional housing will do to traffic flow was also a repeated concern, as many worry the area does not have the roadways or parking for the added vehicles that would come with a building this size.
“I think everybody has the same goal here, which is to maintain a beautiful community, to preserve the character, make sure the guidelines are being followed, but also to welcome new people,” she said.
“We are all for that, but we want to make sure that anybody that comes into this neighbourhood is going to have success.”
A community petition gathered more than 600 signature before Thursday’s meeting, and organizers sent attendees home with a form letter to sign and send to city administration.
Kichula said the hope is to express enough discontent for administration to deny the application.
“I really think that it’s important to listen to the droves of people that have come out to say this,” she said, after the meeting.
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TWG owner and lead developer of the project Joshua Bresciani described the apartments as meant to integrate with the community, and “fill a gap” in housing options for people wanting something other than a single-family house or bungalow.
“We’re trying to build something sustainable and really unique that fits into Douglas Park,” Bresciani said.
He noted that the apartment fits current citywide goals on intensification in existing neighbourhoods, on which a pending bid for federal grant money is currently being considered closely.
“I think this is a very small and tasteful, community orientated, sustainable build,” he said, adding he has heard support from some who don’t feel comfortable posting such on public forums.
Bresciani said he included pricey-to-build underground parking to mitigate street clutter, and already lowered the design from a seven-story, with shadow interference in mind.
“I grew up in Douglas Park. My family grew up in Douglas Park. I love Douglas Park. I would never want to build anything that would hinder the community,” Bresciani said.
Kichula, conversely, called it much too large for the lot or the surrounding area, potentially bringing in 300 more commuters into the neighbourhood daily.
She said the infrastructure can’t handle it, and that “sets (new residents) up for failure.”
Ben Mario, manager of the city planning department, said the ultimate decision will come down to city council, and that administration’s recommendations will be made based on policy, technical details and feedback.
“We zone land, not people,” he told the crowd. “We can’t regulate who lives there.”
Tentative plans are to break ground on the project next year, pending the necessary approvals. Public opposition could drag out that timeline.
“Clearly it’s more sensitive than we thought it would be, but I don’t think some of the sensitivity is justified or fair,” Bresciani said. “I think it’s kind of NIMBY-ism.”
Kichula, and many others at Thursday’s meeting, feel the concern is bigger than not-in-my-backyard feelings, and more about logistics.
“We all want to welcome new neighbours, that has never been the issue. All we are asking is that it happens in a way that is outlined in the guide that they are bound to, which means you match the neighbourhood, you make sure that our infrastructure is not going to crumble.”
Coun. Dan LeBlanc said there is some worry that nixing this project may send a message to developers that the city is unwelcoming of infill projects, but Kichura said the opposite is also true.
“If they do decide to change the zoning for this high-density highrise, what is going to stop another developer, any developer, coming in to any of these neighbourhoods, to do the same?” said Kichula.
A similar apartment project in the Greens was shot down just two years ago, which Coun. Lori Bresciani spoke against.
“If they do decide to change the zoning for this high-density highrise, what is going to stop another developer, any developer, coming in to any of these neighbourhoods, to do the same?” said Kichula.
She called the process “backwards,” with developers creating projects and then seeking public input. LeBlanc said the same, that these issues can arise because the city is “not driving the bus” on infill direction.
Bresciani also refuted what he called “false information” and “jabs at my family” circulating, speculating on conflicts of interest he says are untrue and “not fair.”
More than one attendee Thursday mentioned concerns with potential nepotism, and even so far as under-the-table help from parents Rob and Lori Bresciani.
Lori Bresciani is currently the city councillor for Ward 4. Rob Bresciani is a sitting trustee on the Regina Catholic School board, and was at the time the board cleared selling the land where the development would be situated.
Bresciani said the development is not in his mother’s ward and she has in the past recused herself when other TWG developments have come before city council, nor is his father involved in the project.
TWG is listed on Bresciani’s conflict of interest disclosure, signed at the time of ratification onto city council.
“It’s just people trying to make it seem like this corrupt behaviour going on, and there’s no grounds. Its 100 per cent speculation,” he said.
Kichula said that transparency is a concern, and will be key to garnering trust from members of the public on this project.
Mario said the proposal is being treated the same way all proposals are. Coun. LeBlanc, who does represent Douglas Park in Ward 6, said there should be no issue for concern unless Coun. Bresciani chooses to vote when the project reaches city council.
As for his stance on the proposal, he said more data is needed.
“I don’t much care what the OCP or what administration says, if hundreds of people fill a gym and don’t want this to happen in their neighbourhood, I think that’s how democracy works,” he also said, to a round of applause.
Bresciani was not at Thursday’s meeting. He said the community association “bombarded” city officials to come and speak on the proposal early, and that when he asked organizers if he could be present, he was denied. He said his exclusion makes the conversation one-sided.
“I have officially been uninvited and am not able to attend,” Bresciani told the Leader-Post Thursday morning.
“I’d be curious what kind of conversation they’re trying to guide, and what they’re really trying to do, if they don’t even want to hear what the developer is proposing.
“It seems like it’s more of a lobbying effort than it is to educate the community.”
Kichula said she wasn’t aware of that, but that she’s “happy with how the meeting went.” She anticipates people will continue to turn up at any public forums offered on the issue.
“I think if you started introducing more people to it, I think we could have gotten off topic,” she said. There was some heckling of city officials on Thursday, even without Bresciani present.
“I think that a development meeting after this would be a really great idea and I think it is required, just for added transparency.”
Bresciani agrees. Thursday’s meeting preceded one planned for later this month, once developers have engineering reports on traffic flow, shadow and environmental effects in hand.
He said those have integral information needed to be able to answer questions fully. Kichula expects similar passion will show at other public forums held on this issue.
“I think it says that we really care and we’re going to hold you accountable,” Kichura said, of the turnout Thursday.
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