Stratford residents will get the chance to share their Krug Factory-related concerns with the city next week.
A public meeting is set for Thursday, June 27 at 7 p.m. at city hall to discuss a zone change application for the proposal by BMI Group to redevelop the factory site, located at 93 Trinity Street, into a 382-unit residential property. The group is proposing a comprehensive redevelopment of the site into a multi-residential neighbourhood.
On its website, the group says the project includes a set of complementary townhomes, and residential apartments including a 10-storey feature.
The zone change application also requests a reduced parking rate, a maximum height of 36 metres and reduced setbacks for the existing and proposed residential buildings.
The meeting was meant to take place during the council's regular meeting on May 28, which was postponed due to a banned citizen’s presence.
The citizen in question, Mike Sullivan, is a member of Get Concerned Stratford, the local environmental group that was behind the scrapping of plans for a Chinese float glass plant in Stratford in 2021.
The group has now turned their attention to the Krug Factory redevelopment proposal and is looking forward to sharing their concerns about the project at the rescheduled meeting.
Sullivan told StratfordToday one of those concerns relates to the proposed 10 storey building and the city’s transparency around it.
“The city is hiding the 10 story building. I don't know why they are doing that but all of the pictures that the city has on its website and on the sign on the site show four storeys and that is what is listed as elevation. It's not an accurate representation of what the plans are and I have some serious concerns about the city's bonafides when it comes to this thing,” Sullivan said.
In addition, he said the building’s proximity to the railroad is concerning. “The railroad has said people shouldn't be living that close to the railroad because it will be noisy. The railroad’s position is they don't want noise complaints so they are requiring that this developer tell anyone who is going to buy there that they're going to have noise,” he said.
Sullivan added that as with any new development in the city, he is also concerned about the use of fossil fuels.
“Stratford has declared a climate emergency with good reason. We're living in the heat right now. So any development that now goes in really should not be heated or hot water heated with fossil fuels,” he said.
However, according to him there is no indication on the proposal of what the method of heating and air conditioning will be. The only reference, he says, is to the fact that because of the noise, the units will be designed in such a way as to have air conditioning added so that windows can be closed in the summertime. “For any developer to build anything that is going to be using fossil fuels, is just condemning the owners to a future in which they have to replace the heating system,” Sullivan said.
Another concern, Sullivan said, is parking. “Reduced parking will be an issue because it means that there won't be enough parking for the people who are going to live there. So they will end up having to park their vehicles on the little streets nearby which in turn will flood them with demands for parking,” he said. Sullivan said Stratford is not like the GTA, where they can reduce the number of parking spaces in a property because people have access to bike lanes and Transit.
According to Get Concerned Stratford’s latest newsletter, a citizen group known on Facebook as ‘Krug Factory Neighbourhood News’ has formed to respond to the proposal.
BMI Group had not answered a request for comment from Stratford Today as of the posting of this article.
