Residents living in the area of Belleville’s former police station expressed support for turning the Dundas Street East location into affordable housing, but there are some concerns.
The City of Belleville’s Planning Committee hosted a public meeting Monday to hear from the community as it looks at rezoning the land to facilitate the development.
The land is currently owned by the city, but Habitat for Humanity Canada Prince Edward-Hastings intends to acquire the land from the city to build a 66-unit residential building and a day care centre.
A few residents, most of them living in the George Street area, spoke at the meeting.
One resident said he supported the intent of the development but had several concerns including the proposed building height, number of units, use of the Children’s Safety Village for the day care, and the mixed-use
potential of the property.
The other comments mostly regarded traffic, especially at the intersection of George Street and Dundas Street East.
The proposed parking lot for the development would be off South George Street.
Residents have concerns about increased traffic, and called for traffic lights and crosswalks, as there are currently no lights at the intersection.
Several people noted that they need to look for the reflection of headlights in the windows of a restaurant across the street to determine if it’s safe to pull out.
Habitat for Humanity CEO Hazzem Koudsi also spoke at the meeting stating they will take concerns under advisement as they work with the city on planning for the development.
Koudsi noted they have completed pre-design plans.
One member of the planning committee asked staff if the traffic concerns in the area had been brought up before.
Staff suggested the site plan stage will provide more information about the traffic needs in the area, with the addition of the development, but that the current concerns could be referred to the Transportation Committee to look at possible improvements at the intersection.
Staff will provide a recommendation report on the proposed rezoning at a future meeting.
The current zoning of the property at 93 Dundas Street East is Regional Commercial (C3) Zone.
The application proposes to rezone the subject property to a site-specific Residential Type 3 (R3-X) Zone with a special provision proposed to permit the day care centre.
A future site plan application would also be required once Habitat for Humanity has purchased the land and before the proposed multi-unit residential can go ahead.
