CollingwoodToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected] or via our website. Please include your daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letters were submitted in response to a letter from the Collingwood branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario opposing six-storey building heights for downtown. Collingwood's draft official plan proposes increased building heights for portions of downtown, you can read more about it here.The draft is here, building heights for downtown are located on page 63.
Editor,
I strongly oppose the proposed change in building height restrictions in Collingwood's heritage district from the current three storeys to six storeys.
Allowing new development to rise to twice the height of existing historic buildings would permanently ruin the unique character of the downtown district.
Efforts to recognize the value of preserving our historic downtown began almost half a century ago. It has been an uphill battle to push back against the pressures of development and the flawed arguments for demolishing century-old buildings in the name of "progress." We have lost some real gems.
Over the years, the town has spent millions to commission studies, beautify the main street and develop a sustainable plan that would promote Collingwood as one of the most beautiful and well-preserved towns in the province.
Maintaining the human scale of the historic downtown and restoring the handsome buildings that tell stories of the past has been the key to the appeal of our small town.
Size matters. Six storeys in a city filled with skyscrapers is low-rise. In a small, historic town like ours, a modern, six-storey building dwarfs adjacent heritage buildings, blocks light and views, and dominates the streetscape, as we have seen.
The idea, put forth in the draft plan, that intensification could be achieved by stepping back a six-storey addition to a heritage building is laughable. Who would benefit from this kind of intensification in the downtown core?
If the provincial priority is to build more affordable housing, the proliferation of luxury condos would hardly meet that goal.
Our town is at a crossroads: It is critical that the path we choose now takes us to a destination we won't regret.
Laurel Lane-Moore
Collingwood, Ont.
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What is the benefit of a six-storey residential building? Not the view, if in town. It would be looking at all the rooftops and chimneys. There's nothing special about that.
It would bring more cars, and service trucks and less parking. Where are you going to put it in the historic section?
When does a town bylaw get waylaid and who pays for these accommodating changes?
Where do the limitations and exploitation begin and end in Collingwood? And at what price to whom?
Maureen White
Collingwood, Ont.
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