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« Antario i’.* e U ;'â€"-Q;' m / | 12 5 | F j 1 \ | m e » § A | | f | | | P en T CA nA J A resident of Columbia Lorest, said Ginny Quinn, who heard about the man‘s plight from another real estate agent she works with in the area. It seems this man didn‘t realize when he purchased his home on the west side of Waterloo that the city has a running gag about what the standard size of a single or a double garage should be, said Quinn. So when he first tried to park his truck in the garage of his new home, he found Jennifer Will was part of a group of 120 Wilfrid Laurier Uniâ€" versity students raising money Monday in the Bike For AIDS fundraiser. They raised more than $5,000 meeciar rag rat do you call a Wlmn who has to crawl out of the window of his truck because his garage is too tight to open the doors of his fullâ€" size truck? It sounds like the punchâ€" line to a joke, but the mem ber of Citizens for the Proâ€" tection of the Waterloo Moraine said the laugh will be on people who buy a home in the proposed Vista Hills development. Small garages aren‘t funny, say development critics Put the pedal to the metal By Bos Vasanac Chronicle Staff there was enough clearance to get the vehicle in the garage â€" but not enough to allow him to get out of the cab. He had to climb out of a window and over the roof of the truck to get to the door of the house. While it sounds like an urban legend, Quinn said all you have to do is ask resi dents of Columbia Forest and other postageâ€"sized developments on that side of the city. See how their cars fit into their garages, and the little space it leaves for anything else including the driver. Quinn has seen the blueâ€" print for one of those homes that shows the garage is supposed to be nine feet, 10 inches in width. The only obstacle picâ€" tured in the drawing is the stairs to the house, which aren‘t supposed to encroach in the space. But in reality the stairs have a width of 18.5 inches, leaving the homeowner with cight feet, 3.5 inches of parking space to work with. vabaniar PHOT While the math be a little confusing. watching people hopscotch their way over obstacles to get past their car paints a better picture, She is predicting more of the same for the Vista Hills development that would add upwards of 1,800 homes to the west side of Waterloo, designed primarily with these small singleâ€"car garages. New homeowners will get an unpleasant surprise when they find their garage is nothing more than a storâ€" age shed attached to their home instead of a place to properly park a car. Couns, Gary Kieswetter and Jan d‘ Ailly voted against the staff recommendation for their own reasons, including d‘Ailly‘s fear that council is "jumping the gun" on proceeding with developing _ the public square without the city‘s uptown vision in place, And Quinn has seen peo ple struggle. Public to have plenty of input says council In a niarrow Monday night, c approved the h consultant to viable possibilit consultant to . viable possibilitic construction of a public square in core. future Water In Mond Civic square back on the map tloo ds By Rvan Conneu Por The Chranicte uptown is been c ‘site of : wn parking n chosen as of the "hear V NFEWS to eva ilities F of a Wa in the city cof hiring 2 vole council ng of a aluate for the aterloo eccity‘s welter against dation asons, art lt the of The concern for Quinn comes down to density. She thinks the density of the proposed Vista Hills develâ€" opment is too intensive and doesn‘t take into account that most families will have It all comes down to minâ€" imum garage sizes, and Quinn said everything she‘s seen in Waterloo‘s building requirements leaves far too much Aexibility in defining those minimums. In Burlington, which is undergoing its own garage size review with pressure growing to build on the Niaâ€" gara Escarpment, they start ed to define the average garage size by what you can reasonably expect to house in a garage. That includes garbage and recycling receptacles, bike storage and some shelving for things like oil and washer fluid needed to operate a car. It also allaws for adeâ€" quate room to get in and out of an averageâ€"sized car. "Lim afrai enthusiasm ward with our are jumping t said d Ailly, w that the Tast ti square came council, a d made to w uptown visio plete. V ed the meeti what in the the nc "I don‘t believe we need a third party to tell us what we already know what we want in our square," Kieswetter said. He suggested asking resiâ€" dents for a list of five most preferred features or eleâ€" ments that they would like to see included in the city‘s square. In Kitchener, she‘s been told by building officials that the minimum is 10 feet. "There‘s lihood that make a mist Kieswoett "I don‘t be a third party | we already k want in o Kieswetter sai He suggest ant Kieswetter recommend the city hold community etings and ask residents at they would like to see he public square without need of hiring a consulâ€" The mayor has person th our plan, that we ping: the gun here,‘ illy, who mentioned last time the public came forward to . a decision was to wait for the vision to be com aid that in n to move ur plan. th a very g . we‘re j ake." c we ne II us wh what 1 square zood like going t N on tfor to Rob Trotter, acting team leader of development approvals,.said it‘s an issue the city will be looking at during the review of the new subdivisions being proâ€" posed for the west side. ally said several times that we are the centre of the ani verse... this public square will be a symbeol of what Waterloo truly represents," Kieswetter suggested. Scott Amos, the interim director of planning, reject ed any concerns that con sultants would force a con cept and that the city would have no input in the choice, "This is, without a doubt, a City. of Waterloo project," Amos told council, explain ing that the city doesn‘t have the resources to take the project on themselves but will instead be directing the consultants as though they are regular city staff. Amos told council they would also need to depend un the expertise the consulâ€" tants provide, which the general public doesn‘t have, two cats. They will need those cars in the proposed developâ€" ment because there are no plans to provide public tran sit in the area for at least a few years. That will mean more cars parked on the street and in driveways, and more oil and gas running off into sensi tive Waterloo Moraine lands underneath. "That will be dangerous when they build on that recharge area," said Quinn, "They have to reduce it "Thev‘re trying to get 10 houses in there when they should only have seven, The measurements have to be changed _ before _ they approve it (the subdivision plan) or the developers are just going to sardine houses in there." The consultants are expected to cost $15,000 with $60,000 to then be spent on designing the square. the city had previously spent $25,000 on concept He recognizes there is a minim un anidudntobcintsndtivend q “(.W‘ $20 00 value 565 King St. N. @ Northfield in GTO Gas Bar _ www.gtwireless.ca _ 880+1477 ol concern about density, cou pled with concerns over garage sizes and patking that go with smaller lot sizes "We won‘t really have a handle on the number of small lots and the number of larger lots until we actual ly go through that whole analysis for all three of those plans of subdivision up there," said Trotter. designs tor the square Coun, fim Bolger said the consultation process has been well thought out and he stands behind it, keeping in mind it will come back to council for approval during each phase and that the community‘s input will be serioush considered. "I wholeheartedly supâ€" port the decision and I think that history will shom in the long run that council has made the right deci sion," he said. The final preterred con cept is aimed to be approved by January 2007 with construction to begin the following spring. "Lven our councillors have raised this a number of times as to why people can‘t get their cars into their garage based on design width and things like that," said drotter. "We‘re keenly aware of it, and will be looking at that as part of the review of thase plans." "But we‘re keenly aware of the protiferation of smallâ€" er lots is causing a great deal of concern." "We‘re not jrmping the gun on this thing," Bolger defended. "I‘m hopingâ€"that the group of us have a greater vision than a park ing lot for this thing.‘ Mayor Herb Epp. who did not vote in the decision, said it‘s been 10 years since the idea was first discussed for creating a public square in the city. While the three subdivi sions could have a mani mum of about 1,800 lots to develop, he expects that number to change by late spring went the issue comes back to council. â€"*~ TELUVS PCS Blackberty. Mike & ad & recuive