LDA19-0103 Garneau - The Hive (8630-8650 - 108A Street NW & 8715 - 109 Street NW)

I rent a apartment that faces south in the strathcona house building. I do not like the idea of another highrise apartment building goin up cause I'll be facing into another apartment. I choose this building cause the I do not look into any neighbors like most hise apartment buildings do. It would also increase traffic at that section of which is already very high. So I would disagree with putting another hise rise here thank you

The rezoning for the Hive is extremely out of keeping with current agreements for development in Garneau. If this were to be allowed, there would soon follow other requests for rezoning for high rises on the extremely small footprint, further destroying the Garneau neighbourhood for our future generations.
With the small footprint, the traffic, heavy equipment, cranes significant staging space etc. for the tall structure will be required. 108A Street should be off limits for any construction traffic or staging. The fact this is a small space for construction site, therefore the 2 restaurants on the northwest part of the property should be demolished and used as staging etc. and the entrance off of 109th street be the only access allowed. The narrow alley and need for parking access to existing high rises, leaves little room for residents to manage access to their residences. Where will the workers park? There is no parking available on the street now. Any use of 108A street by the builders is unreasonable.
Adequate resident and visitor parking is a must. Parking is already a challenge without adding 271 new households and their visitors. Once the City moves to Permit Parking in the area, anyone from the address of The Hive, should be disallowed Permit Parking and have that communicated upfront to potential buyers. The builders request is unreasonable. The builder must be required to put in parking, knowing their future residents would not be allowed to park on the street due their short sightedness.
With the downturn of the oil and gas industry, COVID and changes to the way University classes will be delivered (online), the need for more housing in the Garneau will be reduced. The likely 3y project will turn into 5y of disruption to the area if rezoned for a high rise. It is unacceptable for the neighbourhood to have face 3-5y of dust, noise, dirt and huge vibrations.
With a high rise tower, balconies/decks should not be allowed. The only place for the balconies is intrude on the now private balconies and decks of the building to the north and the condo unit south of the construction.
The hours of operation should be strictly adhered to (M-F, 7am-5pm, no weekends or holidays). With the high rise, there will be a lot if disruptions to the residents of the neighbourhood off hours. It would be important for the builder to pay into a trust fund for each violation. It is unreasonable for the residents to be subjected to noise outside of workday hours. For 3-5y.
I find that the City of Edmonton even considering the rezoning proposal quite disturbing and a negative reflection on City Planners for refusing to consider our future generations and setting precedence for the door this will open to similar undesirable projects.

The Hive condo is much too tall for this residential street.
The tower will completely block the light and view of the condo residents who reside in the building on Saskatchewan drive, and will be placed too close to the Duplex homes to the south - also blocking some afternoon / evening light from these residents.

There are many luxury condos for sale in this neighborhood that have been sitting vacant for months, if not years. There is no need for a high rise luxury condo in this lot, and the current city's zoning (allowing a maximum building height of 7 stories) was created for a reason: that high-rise towers are not well-suited for a residential streets. This tower would needlessy disrupt the character of this street by blocking light and adding traffic to an area with plenty of family homes.

I would not be against a condo devlopment in keeping with the style of other condos that already exist on this street, and that does not exceed 7 stories, as per the current city zoning.

I am the owner of a unit on the south side of Strathcona House. I am against this proposal. My concern is how dense the area already is. With another tall building housing 271 units, it will be very hard to access both the Hive and Strathcona House. There is only the small residential 108A St, and the alley off 109th St. It is already tight back there on the south of Strathcona House for any large vehicles that may be coming. This could include moving trucks, fire trucks, ambulances, utility trucks, and construction vehicles when building. The wind tunnel already rattles Strathcona House, and is sometimes a bit scary. A tall building directly beside will only make this worse, and I would guess unsafe. The balconies on the south of Strathcona House would not be usable due to the wind and privacy reasons. The close proximity of the Hive to Strathcona House will block all our sunlight (how could any of our plants survive?), as well as give us no privacy, as we will look out the window right into someone else's home. No one wants to live that close to another building (no beautiful city views), therefore lowering property value of both buildings. Being so close to the university, I think having a building for families with 3 bedrooms and a children play area is a waste. I would guess the building would fill up with students and seniors, neither of who would likely use a 3 bedroom. In addition, the construction of this building in close proximity to those studying and working from home in Strathcona House is a major problem. Also, the poor children at the school are already on a busy/loud street during recess. Construction will have those kids in a poor learning environment with all the noise. Lastly, there is the Redevelopment Plans for a reason, and these should not be broken for some exception. Thank you.

This rezoning would cause an undesirable increase in traffic in an already high-density area, making security and safety more difficult for residents, pedestrians, and students/children. I do not support this proposal as it creates many unnecessary issues for residents of Strathcona House as well as others around the community. Loss of sunlight caused by this building can be extremely detrimental to mental health, which is especially important to maintain and prioritize with everyone currently working and studying from home. Other issues include noise pollution upon construction, decreased fire safety due to the proximity of the buildings, and, again, the security of the community in a high traffic area.

This is a highly undesirable change to the surrounding area. It will affect the sun entry into all of the apartments and this will be detrimental to people’s health in the winter when Seasonal Affective Disorder is at its peak. It will also cause increased traffic in an already densely populated area.

Please do not approve of the rezoning. This is a community neighbourhood with a lot of children in the immediate vicinity of this proposal as well as the elderly. It would not feel or be as safe as it is now with the proposed increased density. Also as a rental building, the residents would be more transient which goes against the grain of the Garneau neighbourhood.

We are new owners (summer 2019) directly adjacent to the proposed redevelopment. We purchased our property based on our awareness of the character and nature of the area, as well as reviewing the current zoning. On the basis of what we witnessed and read, we made a life decision and a significant financial decision.
This is not a minor variation/development but instead, will massively and negatively impact the character and nature of our community and resident experience. It flies in the face of the massive set of existing controls which were carefully developed and passed to protect and preserve the unique aspects of our community in Garneau, adjacent to the University. This type of development has a place - but it is not here. The community is properly and adequately serviced with residential offerings (both short term and long term) to maintain both the wonderful growth and character of our Garneau and University areas.
Just some of the obvious impacts include dramatically increased foot and vehicular traffic, impacts on existing property values, noise pollution, loss of sunshine to adjoining areas, potential increases in crime and overall increased population density impacts.
Build this building not where an opportunistic land developer happens to have land, but rather do it where it should be - in conjunction with the downtown and near term economic/commercial centers Don't allow further sprawl to destroy a truly unique, charming, important economic landmark of Edmonton such as Garneau and the University.

I would add an additional comment to my opposition of this project, echoing others on here: If the construction plan is to start before the COVID19 is sorted, this would be disastrous for those living in the area. Most of us are working from home and noise would just wreck our work environment. This could lead to excessive mental health issues. I see no reason to sacrifice the wellbeing of the people who already live here so that a few people can make a heap of money.

Also, the building is not appropriate for the area and is far too close to Strathcona House and will totally block all the sun on the south side of the building. For many it's the only reason they live here. You will be displacing a number of people and just causing excessive stress. Why would the city let this go through?

The noise is already a significant issue in my area, with traffic noice going into the early morning hours. Adding construction noise during the day would exacerbate the situation considerably. There is already too much traffic in the area.

Given that a lot of people are working from home with the pandemic, I can’t imagine having a new high-rise built and having a amendable working environment.

I understand the need for development, but this does not seem like a sound plan, and it will negatively impact the quality of life for current residence.

I hope the city take this into account into their decision making.

Thank you.

Hi,

Is it likely that large new buildings in the area will raise the property value and rent cost for students? After all, it's students that require living in the area close to the university. Building apartments that are inaccessible to students next to the university may be inappropriate. I'm also concerned with the noise of construction as this will be right outside my window and is likely to be extremely disturbing. I will likely have to move if this goes through, which will cost me time and money. For this reason I am strongly against the building.

Thanks,
Tim

This project lacks any semblance of common sense. The residents in this area are proud of the well designed neighborhood then some big developer comes along and tries to make the rest of us suffer with increased congestion, noise, lack of sunshine, lack of street parking, increased crime, etc.
We vote no.
We should encourage them to build a four story apartment building, which better fits the neighborhood.

This will be a complete disaster for the community.
Traffic will become a nightmare.
Theft and other crime will skyrocket.
I am completely against this.

Absolutely not! As an owner of one of the apartments in Strathcona House, I'm incredibly opposed to the idea of a new high-rise directly behind our building. There are a number of reasons for this, first and foremost being the loss in property value that we will see due to the presence of the new building. Not only would it be direct competition for any prospective buyer, but as a south-facing apartment we completely lose any view or sun that we may have, again degrading the value of our property.

Lastly, how this can go forward in an already high-traffic area with a University and an elementary school directly beside it is odd to me. It's already a high-hazard area, and adding another 25 stories of apartments and condos will do nothing to alleviate that.

All in all, I don't support this proposal either for our own personal interests or the interests of the community as a whole.

Thank you.

I am a property owner in the area am strongly opposed to the size of this development.
Area planning is done for a reason and we all bought into the area based on these plans to some degree.
Just follow the existing plan, don't change it when the vast majority of the CURRENT residents are opposed to it. The developer and city council should not have the right to ruin so many peoples day to day lives.

I say a very simple NO to this project. Too much traffic. Loss of views. Blocking of sun light.

This high rise multi family development is not needed in Garneau. The increased traffic, loss of south and west facing views is not acceptable. The additional traffic is undesirable. The road system in the area can't handle anymore traffic. We are losing traffic lanes thanks to Iveson's bike lane fetish. Enough is enough. This project should be scratched at its infancy. NO MORE HIGH RISES in Garneau!

Hi
I left an message yesterday expressing my disapproval of this building next to where I live.I listed many reasons why this structure as planned is absolutely NOT suitable for this community.Increased traffic,crime,noise,insufficient roads and alleys.However one huge danger is the prevalence of young children in the area.They primarily live in a co-op housing area across the road from the proposed high rise,They often run out on the road while playing,as young children will do.They will greatly be in danger as traffic from construction will be very heavy.Traffic after will be very dangerous as well.
Aside from the fact that owners as myself in Strathcona house will be financially harmed from this project,the safety aspect is paramount.Please reject this outrageous proposal
Garnet

Myself and both my roommates (living in strathcona house) strongly oppose the development of such a large structure this close to our building for a number of reasons.

1. The increased traffic. I know you guys said you wanted to make "Edmonton a more walkable city" and thats great, but people still require cars for many things, especially for people working in the oil patch or contract workers. Covid has shown many people the value of visits, and even right now, 90% of the time guests cannot find parking in the parking lots, and have to park several blocks away (not to mention the lack of parking for the tenants of the building!). There is a lot of parking congestion already in the neighbouring blocks, not to mention the risk that this large building will create much more traffic around the elementary school area. We appreciate the developer doing traffic studies, but we have lived here for 4 years, and all of us, including our neighbours and our friends living in the communities nearby will unanimously tell you that parking has ALWAYS been a huge issue, adding such a large structure with many more people (and only accommodating a small percentage of them with parking) will be extremely detrimental to the community.

2. Wind and sun. I saw the sunshine study that was done, and during the winter there is VERY LITTLE direct sunlight entering some of these apartments. It may be up to bylaw code, but it is still extremely unpleasant to limit sunlight during a season where there is so little to begin with. As for the wind, we have personally have had items picked up and swept away off our balcony (and not only very light items such as bags). I cant imagine the wind tunnel this new oddly shaped building would make, but even walking around the front or the back of the current building can be unpleasant because of the high amount of wind.

3. Density of buildings and safety. Most places DOWNTOWN dont even have building densities this high. Most are separated by 2 way streets or 4 lane avenues, whereas this little area CONTAINING 2 FULL 20+ STORY BUILDINGS will only be separated by a small street? That is nothing short of insane, especially considering the fire risk this poses. We had one fire alarm needing evacuation this year, i cant imagine the chaos if fire engines needed to get to the back of the building.

It is unfathomable to me that someone would think that this was a good idea, I heard the original plan was for a 4-5 story building (i may be mistaken), which would be fairly acceptable in my mind, since it wouldn't affect the aforementioned points as severely, but having two 20+ story buildings in this close proximity is just asking for disaster.

These criticisms (and many more) have been resounding from the surrounding community, unanimously expressing dismay at this new development, I am sure that the people at the city planner's office have the community's best interest in mind, as this development would forever change the face of the historic Garneau neighbourhood.

I know you guys are getting a lot of feedback, but we wanted to thank you for reading and taking everyones opinions into account.

Christopher Stys, Erika Poitras, Julian Stys

As a property owner in the area I am very concerned about the increased traffic in the alleyways especially the exit onto 109street. During the morning and afternoon rush this is an already busy area and will be exacerbated by this increase in living and traffic density. The minimal number of parking places that are being planned for this development are laughable. The only reason the number is so low is due to the myopic recent changes to the city rezoning bylaws. Allowing the developer to decide on the number of parking places, with no consultation or input from historic norms is certainly an indication that city council is on the side of the developers and not on the side of the community. It is a slap in face to current owners to allow development on a poorly located piece of land and to allow it to negatively impact so many long term residents of joining properties. Current residents have been living and supporting the affected neighborhood for many many years and to allow a new development that will increase an already high density neighborhood cause a loss of loss of view and sunshine to almost half of of the residents of the property to the north sunshine along with a loss of property value shows that the city has no regard for long term residents. The development does not following the 109 Street Corridor Area Redevelopment plan nor the Garneau Area Redevelopment Plan.
This development should not be allowed to move forward with so many negatives and no positive values.