A plan to build a 24-unit affordable townhouse complex on Shantz Hill Road moved a step closer to reality this week after the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) sided with the city in dismissing an appeal of the project that's been three years in the making.
Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region says it will move ahead to develop 325 Shantz Hill Rd., eight months after council approved the project.
Last fall, neighbours, Martin and Gerda Wiens, appealed the decision to the OLT citing safety, compatibility and density issues.
During the February hearing, Martin Wiens told the adjudicator the three-and-a-half storey townhouses will tower about 20 metres over his backyard and asked that the setback be increased to lessen their visual impact.
But the adjudicator said Wiens' claim of incompatibility "lacked a compelling argument" and agreed with planning experts who argued the development conforms with the region's growth plan and "aids in the province's direction to add to the supply of affordable housing units."
Contacted the day after the decision came down, Wiens called it a "very bad" decision, not only because it highlights what the provincial adjudicators and city planners are willing to overlook to get more housing built, but because it points out the hypocrisy of council.
He questions how the same council can so blatantly ignore safety concerns on Shantz Hill when they were dead set against a similarly-sized development on Wayne Avenue and Pinebush Road for the same reasons.
"They were all up in arms about the traffic issue there," he says. "Here at Shantz Hill it's much more serious."
The immediate neighbour of the Habitat project knows the dangers first hand and said the four-lane road has become a speedway since the region added a sidewalk and realigned it in 2017.
Those fears were realized on October 2021 when a 25-year-old driver died after he lost control of his Lexus before it struck a hydro pole and ended up in a heap of shattered metal in Wiens' front yard.
Less than a year later, in August 2022, a vehicle left the roadway in the same area, spun out and slammed into a hydro pole, sending wires down across all four lanes.
Wiens has no doubt somebody will be injured and killed on the busy stretch when more families and vehicles are added to the neighbourhood, and children look for places to play that aren't adequately provided for in the Habitat build.
In addition to the safety concern, Wiens also argued the density for the project, which is actually 70-units per hectare, is well above the 32-units per hectare approved by council.
The city’s zoning by-law requires a maximum density of 40 units per hectare on that property.
He says staff incorrectly included a wetland on the property when it came up with the density calculation it presented to council when they approved the project in December 2022.
That "grievous violation" deprived council of making an informed decision, he says. "It was council's prerogative to make that decision based on the truth."
Wiens adds he would have preferred to work with city staff to find concessions but was denied that opportunity when he was incorrectly told they could no longer discuss the matter with him after he filed the appeal.
"We all agree we need more housing, but you can't fix that problem by kicking all the rules out the door," he says.
In an email to CambridgeToday, Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region CEO Phil Mills says the organization is excited to be able to move forward with the project.
"We are experiencing a housing crisis in our cities, province and all over the country. There’s an overwhelming need for safe and decent places to live. Our team is working closely with the City of Cambridge to get shovels in the ground as quickly as possible."
