City Council lukewarm on proposed high-rise cluster at Burtch Rd/Harvey Ave

A plan to redevelop the lands on Burtch Avenue and Harvey - next to the Parkinson Rec Centre fields - has been met with some discomfort from city council.

A narrow majority has approved an Official Community Plan (OCP) amendment that opens the door for multiple high-rises on those parcels with up to 1,700 residents, but many councillors think it's too dense and too high.

A public hearing comes next and any construction would still need a development permit.

At a council meeting Monday, staff recommended the OCP change because buildings as high as only six stories are currently permitted there. The change now allows buildings of up to 26 storeys, and in special circumstances, up to 39 stories. Staff said the project meets the city's priorities around transit corridors, land use and the creation of housing, including the possibility of affordable units if particularly high buildings are approved.

Staff insisted the amount of high-rises and their height, along with the total density of the project would need to be thrashed out before a development permit is issued. But many on council were not comfortable with the proposed project.

"It feels like we're more in a free-fall now, " councillor Ron Cannan said in rejecting the OCP amendment. "We've shifted from thoughtful planning to a 'higher is better' mindset now."

He said he'd rather have something in the realm of buildings of 12 to 18 storeys and said the location was too small to handle another 1,700 people.

While in favour of taking the matter to a public hearing, councillor Mohini Singh said the traffic situation at Burtch and Harvey would "be an absolute mess" with so many extra vehicles trying to access the development.

"It's already difficult to turn left onto Burtch. I'm happy to take it to public hearing but with some trepidation," she said.

Other councillors want to wait for a public hearing and see what sort of wider community benefit the formal proposal from the developer would be, such as offering affordable units.