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7| W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,June 7,2018 w aterloochronicle.ca • Free Blood Glucose Monitor & Teaching • Free Blood Pressure Check • Compounding Friendly Professional Team... where your total health is our goal! hours Mon.-Fri. 9am-7pm • Sat. 9am-4pm 519-747-0320 373 Bridge St. Waterloo www.thpharmacy.com OUR ANNUAL STOREWIDE SALE!! DOORS OPEN 8AM SHARP! NO TAX! 1 DAY ONLY W W W . . C O M 1362VICTORIA ST N. KITCHENER | SATURDAY JUNE 9 8AM-6PM ONE DAY ONLY! SATURDAY JUNE 9TH Residents of Beechwood are rallying against a pro- posed 13-storey tower which they say just doesn't fit in with the community. Tom Currie, who lives adjacent to the proposed tower, said the neighbour- hood, which consists of mostly single-family homes, is just not suited for a multi-residential building. "The tallest building we have is the seven-storey building that's already on the property," said Currie. Concept Development Group Inc. is proposing to build a 13-storey, 140-unit building that will directly abut the existing struc- ture. Aside from the build- ing's presence in the com- munity, Currie and many of his neighbours are also concerned about its prox- imity to the sidewalk along Beechwood Drive. The existing seven-sto- rey apartment building is set back from the road, making it "less obtrusive," he said. Currie also has con- cerns about property value and how it may be affected in the area. Concept Development Group is asking the city to make a number of excep- tions, especially when it comes to setbacks, or the amount of space required as a buffer to each of the property lines. The requests include: • Front yard setback of 3.5 metres, as opposed to the 7.5 metres required. • Side yard setback of 2.7 metres, as opposed to the requirement of half the building height, or about 20 metres. • Rear yard setback of 7.5 metres, as opposed to requirement of about 20 metres. • Decrease in required amenity space from 50 square metres per dwell- ing unit to 2.5 square me- tres per bedroom. • Decrease in land- scaped open space from 30 per cent of the land to 18 per cent. The developer's justifi- cation for not meeting the required rear yard setback is because of a no-build zone along the Clair Creek. With the no-build zone tak- en into account, the rear of the building will be 34 me- tres from the closest dwell- ing. According to the plan- ning justification report, the closest the building will be to surrounding properties is 18 metres. Another concern of res- idents in the area is the im- pact of shadows cast by the large building. According to a shadow study, some homes on Maple Forest Line to the west will be im- pacted most in the spring, while significant shadows will affect homes to the east in evenings in the fall. At the winter solstice, homes directly to the north will be affected most. Dan Raats, who lives on the east side of 508 Beech- wood Dr., said he agrees with cities focusing on in- tensification, but if you look at other areas of the city, there hasn't been any- thing this dense in a neigh- bourhood like Beechwood. "They're all on major ar- teries," said Raats, who was joined by about 25 neighbours to meet and discuss the proposed pro- ject on Monday. The traffic study notes that there will be no signif- icant issues when it comes to vehicular flow in the ar- ea, due in part to the prop- erty's proximity to transit. Raats, who uses public transportation to com- mute, said it's not as easy as it seems to catch GRT buses from inside of Beech- wood. "You have to adapt," said Raats. "It's about a 20- minute walk to the bus stop." The development is slat- ed for an informal public meeting at city hall on June 11, where affected neighbours will voice their concerns. NEWS Residents rally against proposed Beechwood tower ADAM JACKSON ajackson@waterloochronicle.ca