Proposed highrise development in Kitchener passes hurdle at council

Kitchener City Hall

A large highrise development proposed in Kitchener is one step closer to reality.

On Monday night, Kitchener City Council approved an amendment application to change a land use designation along Courtland Avenue East as a developer looks at building three towers. If the developer’s plan comes to fruition, it would include a mix of commercial spaces and 977 residential units. The total building height maximum is listed in the proposal as 30 storeys.

When the issue came before council last week, councillors deferred the decision due to concerns with Waterloo Region’s water capacity.

In December, the region revealed there is a water capacity issue within the Mannheim service area, including parts of Kitchener, Waterloo, Woolwich Township and Wilmot Township. Although the region said there are no concerns for current residents, future development needs to be carefully considered to ensure the water supply can keep up with the growth of the area.

Earlier this month, the region’s acting CAO, Mathieu Goetzke, said the region’s available supply would be exceeded if all current residential applications were approved.

Kitchener councillors took that warning to heart as they discussed the proposed land use amendement.

During Monday’s meeting, Kitchener’s director of development and housing approvals, Garett Stevenson, recommended a holding provision to address those issues.

“The holding provision would prevent any new construction and only allow the existing buildings and the existing uses until such time as that holding provision is removed by a bylaw,” Stevenson explained.” The holding provision as proposed by staff is satisfied one of two ways; that a water analysis study is completed by a qualified expert and confirmed and approved by the Region of Waterloo or secondly, that the Region of Waterloo completes their water master planning exercises and implements the infrastructure needed to support that. A decision today with a holding provision does allow for that safeguard to ensure that we are able to confirm accurate water capacity for this development before any construction or approvals can occur.”

With the holding provision added to the application, council unanimously approved the request to change the land use designation from “Commercial” and “General Industrial Employment” to “Strategic Growth Area C” which could eventually clear the way for the towers.