Residents rally against proposed 10-storey tower in Brampton neighbourhood

Hundreds of residents are calling on the city not to approve plans for a 10-storey apartment building and townhouses they say would transform their community, and not for the better.

“Council is not being asked to guess how the community feels, the community has made its position unmistakably clear,” Brampton resident Rushiraj Shah told Brampton’s Planning and Development Committee on Monday, on behalf of residents in the Westfield area.

The controversial application is for a 10-storey mid-rise apartment building at 8799 Heritage Rd. with 162 units, along with three blocks of stacked townhouses with 48 stacked townhouse units.

Residents say they’ve been blindsided by the proposal, and that buyers in the community purchased homes under the expectation that the development would be 17 detached homes.

“However, to pivot from 17 detached homes to a 10-story tower is not an incremental evolution, it is a wholesale abandonment of the vision that was presented to the people who live here now,” said Gurpreet Sehmbi, another Brampton resident who represented home owners at the meeting.

Over 500 community members have signed in-person and online petitions calling for the city not to approve the development application submitted by Glen Schnarr and Associates Inc. on behalf of a numbered company.

Locals say their concerns include an increase in vehicles and child safety, a lack of clear communication from developers, and what they say is an outdated and inarticulate traffic safety study. There are also three structures currently on the property which were considered for a heritage designation, but not added to the city’s register after staff found they didn’t meet the criteria.

The property is currently zoned as agricultural, and would require an amendment to change land uses for residential apartments and
multiple-townhomes, residential townhouses and open space.

The community members are calling on the city to refuse the application, and “a full transparent accounting” around the decision not to list the property on the heritage register.

“Please take this petition for what it is – not just a collection of names, but a clear and a unified warning from the community that this tower isn’t incompatible with the area and should not be able to proceed in its current form,” Sehmbi said.

A city report showed key concerns around the development include transition to the existing low-density residential neighbourhood, increased density and traffic, and ensuring appropriate height and building setbacks are implemented.

City staff will report back with answers to the community’s concerns before any zoning changes are made.