OMB sides with developer on Post Office plans

[attach]7625[/attach]Ontario Municipal Board vice-chair Jan Seaborn needed only a 10-minute recess before delivering an oral decision allowing developer Knightstone Capital Management to proceed with plans to replace the former Post Office at 2 Laird Dr. with a seven-storey, 98-unit residential building.

Though a vigorous opposition was mounted by local citizen groups to the development plan since it was introduced in 2012, none were willing to comment on the OMB’s oral decision afterward.

“We don’t have very much confidence that we’ve got any kind of a victory at the OMB, but you’re not going to comment unless you know the detail of it,” said Carol Burton Fripp, co-president of the Leaside Property Owners Association, which was a party at the Feb. 24 hearing.”

The LPOA will await the OMB’s written decision, which will be used as a guideline when arranging the building’s final layout with the city and developers, she said.

Brenda Berge, who organized a group of 12 concerned citizens who submitted 10 written statements of opposition to the hearing, also refused to comment.

In a report submitted in August, city planning staff supported Knightstone’s proposal “in principle,” while noting an expectation that the developer would add modifications such as an “appropriate transition” between the building’s west and south sides and its neighbours on nearby Malcolm and Millwood roads and Krawchuk Lane.

City solicitor Matthew Longo, who opposed the application at the hearing on the grounds that seven storeys would not provide an effective transition between the new building and its neighbouring two- and three-storey townhouses and detached homes, also said he would await the board’s written decision before commenting on the decision beyond noting the company’s site plan must still be submitted and approved by city staff.

Knightstone executives did not respond to interview requests.