Residents oppose 633-unit development proposed for Mississauga

Residents came out to oppose a development proposal that has more than doubled in size in Mississauga.

The proposal for 51 and 57 Tannery St. and 208 Emby Dr. in Streetsville has long been controversial. People opposed the demolition of two detached homes on the property and launched a petition in 2019. The homes provided affordable housing units.

But the property owner wanted to build a 147-unit townhome development in 2021. Most of the buildings on the site were demolished—one detached home remains but it was badly damaged by a fire in January. 

The development project has expanded to a 633-unit, 12- to 14-storey apartment building complex.

While the city planning department found many outstanding issues in the proposal, the property owner, NYX Tannery LP (Montcrest Asset Management), took the proposal to the Ontario Land Tribunal due to an indecision from the City of Mississauga. The tribunal can override municipal decisions.

The project came to the Planning and Development Committee meeting on Monday as staff needed committee support to oppose the project at the tribunal.

The property is mostly vacant aside from a home that was damaged in a fire.

The proposal needs approval to increase the maximum permitted height on the site from six storeys to 14 storeys, and to increase the floor space index from 1.8 to 3.5, according to the report to the planning committee.

The proposed development would bring an estimated 1,836 new residents in 31 bachelor units, 342 one-bedroom units, 187 two-bedroom units and 73 three-bedroom units. The proposal includes 601 parking spaces.

The application currently doesn’t include justification for the increase in height and density, according to the staff report.

The proposal “represents a significant departure from the local policy framework,” the report stated.

Outstanding application items include approval for infrastructure capacity (water and sewer), traffic studies and sun/shadow studies.

Residents opposed the development at the Monday meeting.

Resident Shawn Hodges said Streetsville cannot support the new density. He encouraged staff to fight.

“I would not be happy as a resident having something that is twice the height of what your learned planners put forth in the revisited official plan for the city,” said Hodges.

Another resident suggested the new residents will need vehicles as transit is not sufficient in Streetsville. There will be gridlock and more accidents.

Resident Rahul Mehta said he shared concerns about having sufficient infrastructure to handle the influx of new residents but he liked the idea of adding more housing to Streetsville.

“I don’t think an empty lot is part of neighbourhood character and I would love to see some density here to contribute to the tax base to the revitalization of areas like this, Streetsville,” said Mehta.

A representative from Glen Schnarr & Associates Inc. said he hoped they could come to an agreement at the tribunal.

The planning committee voted to support staff in opposing the project at the Ontario Land Tribunal. The first meeting was slated for March 4.

For more information see the City of Mississauga Planning and Development Committee meeting here.

Renderings: City of Mississauga submission