A local developer looking to turn a former Logan Avenue school into a housing development is facing plenty of opposition from the surrounding neighbourhood.
Robert Zanette of Robert Zanette Real Estate services said he was stunned when he heard the mostly negative feedback that arose from his plan to convert the vacant Sir John A. Macdonald school into 13 condominiums and divide the surrounding property into 48 lots. Zanette held a meeting at St. Joseph’s Heritage Thursday night to address the concerns of residents in the area.
"We’re not trying to destroy your neighbourhood," Zanette said to a standing room crowd of over 100 people. "We want to be good neighbours."
Zanette’s speaking agenda included the 12 main concerns brought forward about the plan. After discussing them, he then took questions from the audience, which numbered 100 people or more.
The biggest complaint he’s heard is that the number of lots, and their small size, make them incompatible with the existing homes in the neighbourhood. However, Zanette pointed out there is a lot of misconception about his plans.
For starters, he said, the rumour of lots measuring just 33-feet wide simply isn’t true. Zanette said each of the 48 lots, should his plan move forward, will be about 39 feet wide, well within the city’s minimum requirement.
Another rumour, that the development would deliver low-income housing to the middle-class neighbourhood, is also false, Zanette said. The homes he plans to build will average in the $200,000 range and will be targeted to young families and seniors.
While green space in the 10.5-acre property will be lost under his plan, Zanette said the site would still contain 20 per cent green space, double the 10 per cent minimum required by the city.
"We’re exceeding the green space that’s required from us," said Zanette.
However, most residents weren’t convinced.
Bob Bradley has lived in the area on Cox Crescent for more than 30 years. From walking the dog to sledding in the winter, he said the lot has always been used as a neighbourhood park. While he’s OK with the conversion of the former elementary school into condominiums, Bradley suggested the developer the rest of the park for everyone to enjoy.
"It’s an area where families can walk to and enjoy that area. If you take a look around the neighbourhood there aren’t any other areas close by that you can walk to and have that kind of access," Bradley said. "That’s what it’s been for as long as I can remember and I’d like it to stay that way."
The land will be sold by the Lakehead Public School Board pending a rezoning approval by council, a process Zanette said could take six months. The project could start as early as 2011, said Zanette.
