It was a unanimous vote
Any chance of a 33-storey apartment building being built in downtown St. Catharines has run into a solid brick wall.
City council unanimously voted against it for Ontario Street during a packed meeting.
Resident Liz Fleming pointed out they gladly welcome development, but not a building this size. "We are a heritage district, and there are many people who own older homes that could potentially be damaged by the digging and blasting that would be necessary to create the underground parking proposed."
The downtown BIA encouraged the apartment building, that was to include commercial space and underground parking, to help with the homeless problem, and high rental rates.
Chair Rachel Braithwaite also argued against claims of traffic problems. "We do not believe that a development of this size will result in unmanageable increase in cars on our streets. We've been to other developments of similar sizes, if not bigger, and watched the traffic, and it has been manageable. It is barely noticeable coming out of the intersections."
Councillor Bruce Williamson said this would not fit in the downtown.
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