The project’s developer, Fengate, is hoping to build 1,212 housing units on 3.4 hectares including two 24-storey and two 15-storey residential towers, 30 two-storey townhouses, and 64 four-storey townhouses. Photo credit: Urban Solutions
A plan for 1,212 residential units on the site of Winona’s LIUNA Gardens banquet centre at 526 Winona Road is headed to the Ontario Land Tribunal in September 2023.
Fengate LIUNA Gardens Holdings LP filed the appeal with the tribunal on June 1, 2022 after the City of Hamilton failed to rule on their rezoning applications within the 120-day deadline laid out in the Planning Act.
The City of Hamilton is opposed to the project and will be joined by at least four other “parties,” which include the Lakewood Beach Community Council and three residents in the area. There are also 14 local residents who have been given status as formal “participants.” More parties and participants could be added before the hearing in September.
Formal statuses were granted at a preliminary hearing on October 28, 2022. A second preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 3, 2023 to procedurally prepare for the eventual ten-day tribunal hearing which is expected to begin on September 18, 2023.
It should be noted that “parties” are able to call witnesses, with “participants” limited to giving either written or verbal statements.
Fengate is aiming to build 1,212 housing units on 3.4 hectares including two 24-storey and two 15-storey residential towers, 30 two-storey townhouses along the lakeshore, and 64 four-storey townhouses to the south of the condo towers. They are seeking a number of zoning regulation exemptions, including from minimum parking spot requirements, density limits, and height restrictions.
City staff contend that the development is out of character for the neighbourhood, too dense, and contrary to municipal plans for the area.
The current parking requirements stipulate that there must be 2,099 parking spots for a development of the size, but Fengate’s proposal includes 1,067 spaces. The maximum height prescribed for buildings in the area is nine storeys, while Fengate is aiming for 24-storeys and 15-storeys, respectively.
The density of the development would be 425 units per hectare, while the area has a limit of 99 units per hectare.
There are also concerns about the impact of the development on traffic since the area lacks transit. There is also an absence of sidewalks, particularly along the Winona Road overpass that is the only pedestrian connection to the Winona Crossing commercial plaza.
Despite the objections, a report prepared by Fengate’s planning consultant Urban Solutions contends that “the Winona area is undergoing a period of transition [away] from traditional low-rise single detached dwellings” so the development should be approved.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
