A routine planning matter has led to some unexpected new details about a proposed development in Bradford.
Council approved removing a hold symbol once a site-plan agreement is in place for Bradford Capital Holdings Inc.’s three-storey, mixed-use building on the south side of Line 6, about 125 metres west of Simcoe Road, during its meeting Tuesday and based on a report from Madeline Luker, planner for the town.
In response to questions from councillors, Neil Palmer, land development planner at A.R.G. Group, spoke on behalf of the developer and explained they’re not only hoping to have an updated site plan submitted to the town as early as this week, but they’re also planning to submit a plan of condominium, meaning the developer intends to list the units for sale, not for rent.
On Jan. 16, council approved rezoning the property officially known as Block 404, Plan 51M-1063, from future development (FD) to neighbourhood commercial (C2) with exceptions to allow 12 commercial units, each between 62 and 66 square metres, on the ground floor and a total of 12 residential units, each between 126-130 square metres on the second and third floors.
During Tuesday night’s meeting, Coun. Peter Ferragine suggested those commercial units might be too small.
“The local residents would like to have something that’s easy to walk to, that’s convenient, but if you’ve got 700 sq. ft., what are you putting in there?” he asked.
The councillor worried that the units might only be large enough for small businesses like an accountant’s office or a “one-chair hair salon” and preclude the opportunity for something like a restaurant.
“I just feel with how small the retail units are, it’s setting it up for tight, tight, office spaces or basically failure for anything that needs more room than that,” he said. “I want to see it become a successful space.”
Coun. Joseph Giordano echoed those concerns, noting the concrete firewalls between units and pointing out the need for the structure to be flexible enough for units to be combined multiple wide or double long — a concept about which he was “pretty excited” during the January meeting.
“I’m a little disappointed,” he said. “We want to create a benchmark for projects for people to model after, and I can’t get excited about this knowing that we’re going to have these micro retail units.”
Palmer explained that if buyers purchase adjacent units prior to construction, the developer could remove some wall closures to help open up the units, but the extent of that work would be subject to fire code.
Giordano emphasized the importance of a construction model that helps facilitate merging units and removing walls, even after construction is finished.
“You can build firewalls out of anything. It doesn’t have to be concrete,” he said.
Council are expected to have the chance to further discuss the matter in future before approving the updated site plan, which has been revised to address council’s previous concerns, according to Palmer.
