Thursday, October 09, 2003
Annette Phillips
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The Kingston Whig-Standard
A downtown development has received a green light from city council, but continues to face a string of objections from neighbours who want continued access to a publicly owned lane they have used as a driveway and garbage storage area for decades.
Council voted unanimously Tuesday to open talks with Kincore Holdings to build a network of stone patios and pathways on the block encircled by Wellington, King, Brock and Clarence streets. Kincore owns five of 17 existing buildings on the block, including the recently restored British Whig building and the Ontario Bank building, which is currently under construction at the corner of King and Clarence. Behind the two buildings, the company owns a large undeveloped lot that is currently zoned for condominiums.
In return for the right to build Victorian-style patios on the upper floors of the Ontario Bank building and install a permanent, below-grade patio at street level, Kincore is offering to buy and rebuild the public laneway that runs behind the buildings on the block. The redevelopment project will be modeled on Kincore's award-winning Brock Street Common restoration.
In an unanimous vote to start negotiations, councillors commended Kincore and its president, Kim Donovan, for an innovative project. "We have in Kincore an incredibly conscientious developer. Look at the precedent of Brock Street Common and the pathways and how that has lent so much to the historic fabric of the city," said Rick Downes, city councilor for King's Town district. "Quite frankly, I want this project to move forward," added Councillor Don Rogers. "Kincore has time and again shown their development downtown is sensitive and visionary and they certainly keep their word with what they build," councilor Leonore Foster said. "This is a model developer," said councilor Steve Garrison, before joining colleague George Sutherland in tabling an amendment that would have bound Kincore to satisfy all the concerns of all their neighbours before the project could go ahead. With only two votes in favour, the amendment was lost.
John Poulos, who owns the building that houses Morrison's Restaurant, has already complained that the public lane closure interferes with his tenants' historical right to store garbage and grease from the restaurant in what is now a dirty, overgrown back alley.
Lawyer Wally Viner is another property owner who is not jumping for joy at the Kincore deal. Viner's tenants will lose five parking spaces when Kincore closes the city-owned laneway to vehicles. Viner suggested Kincore should be offering compensation for the free parking he currently provides to his tenants. Donovan has already said he will make parking spaces available for a fee in an underground lot he slated for his vacant Clarence Street property. "It is a public laneway for the public, but it's there to service specific buildings, not the whole world," Viner said. Viner also raised concerns about safety and about access for service vehicles. Kincore is proposing to install removable bollards at the entrances.
One of the stone pathways will be cut from store fronts in the former Atlantic Direct building on Brock Street. Another will connect to King Street between Morrison's Restaurant and Block and Cleaver. Mike Argiris, who operates Morrison's, and Carl Kraglund, the owner of Block and Cleaver, both declined to comment yesterday. Donovan points to Brock Street Common as evidence of the importance and benefits of restoring Kingston's old carriageways and opening up more public spaces.
The city has sent Kincore's proposal to the planning department, where it will be subject to studies, review and public consultation. It is unclear whether the city will negotiate the two deals - the Ontario Bank balconies and the laneway project - together as Kincore intended. Councillors split the two issues up to vote on them after staff said they could be negotiated separately.
"We look at it holistically," Donovan said yesterday. "Our vision is for the entire block. It's a whole-block concept."
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City Gives Go-Ahead to Kincore Proposal |
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