801 Sarnia Road - 8s (Under Construction)

[CanadianTalk]

A six storey apartment building is proposed on Sarnia Road, immediately west of the CP tracks.

Link to planning application: https://london.ca/sites/default/files/20...20Application-%20801%20Sarnia%20Road.pdf

View from Sarnia Road:


Site plan:

[jammer139]

Interesting drawing showing the trail way running north of the building along the railway. I would expect it to connect to the pedestrian bridge to the west over the tracks linking to the neighborhood north of tracks.

[CanadianTalk]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Interesting drawing showing the trail way running north of the building along the railway. I would expect it to connect to the pedestrian bridge to the west over the tracks linking to the neighborhood north of tracks.

Oh wow, I didn't even know that the bridge existed until you mentioned it. Very cool. I'm just looking at it now on Google Maps and it does have an older style look to it. Has this bridge been there for a long time? If so, is there any interesting backstory to it?

Now that you mentioned it, I guess that is where the pathway would lead up to. I was wondering where it would be going, lol.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by CanadianTalk

Oh wow, I didn't even know that the bridge existed until you mentioned it. Very cool. I'm just looking at it now on Google Maps and it does have an older style look to it. Has this bridge been there for a long time? If so, is there any interesting backstory to it?

Now that you mentioned it, I guess that is where the pathway would lead up to. I was wondering where it would be going, lol.

It's been there for the 20 years that Google Earth goes back in that area.

[CanadianTalk]

Public meeting for this is scheduled for June 20

https://london.ca/sites/default/files/2022-06/O-9475%2BZ-9476_Public%20Meeting%20Notice.pdf

[CanadianTalk]

City planning staff recommends that council should approve the zoning change. Goes to planning committee on June 20th.

https://pub-london.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=93201

[jammer139]

Planning votes to approve zoning. Next up full council.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Interesting drawing showing the trail way running north of the building along the railway. I would expect it to connect to the pedestrian bridge to the west over the tracks linking to the neighborhood north of tracks.

the pedestrian bridge has been there for 4 years or more. But there still is no access lane (other than muddy tracks) on either side. It is so perplexing how the development proceeds in such a piecemeal fashion. Why is everything only half built for such long periods?

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

It's been there for the 20 years that Google Earth goes back in that area.

That bridge dates back a lot longer than that - here's an aerial photo of the area from 1942, showing the same bridge over the CPR:

https://www.lib.uwo.ca/madgic/projects/ldn_airphotos/1942/Line15_19.jpg

The bridge functioned as an access road to a farm that was located north of the railway. If I could guess, the farm was there first and the bridge was built when the railway went through in 1889. There were other such grade separations in that part of London Township to connect farmland together; another bridge was located just west of what is now Wonderland Road. That bridge was torn down sometime between 1955 and 1965. There was also a tunnel to the east connecting two plots of land, close to where the Cherryhill apartments now are located - and that tunnel still exists today, though it's not well known outside of the neighbourhood.

1955 aerial photo showing both bridges and the tunnel, along with the old Sarnia Road bridge:

https://www.lib.uwo.ca/madgic/projects/ldn_airphotos/1955/Line4245_22.jpg

[Djeffery]

Yes, I was only saying as far back as Google Earth shows, it was obviously a lot older than that. The bridge looks to have been rebuilt, or at the least, renovated in around 2016 or so.

[MolsonExport]

^yes, it was about 6 years ago. But doing things the typical London way, the approaches are just muddy fields. Maybe when it is time to replace the bridge, by then they will have finally built the access paths.

Almost all of the Hyde Park neighborhood is a piecemeal mess of incomplete paths and inadequate parks. I understand that the neighborhood is being redeveloped, but how long should residents have to wait? 10 years? More?

Don't get me started on the woeful bike lanes on Hyde Park Road: a deathtrap. That road was built for pickup trucks to speed at 80kms or more per hour.

Josh Morganland.

[CanadianTalk]

Council has voted to approve the zoning change

[CanadianTalk]

Royal Premier Homes has submitted a new zoning application for their site at 801 Sarnia Road, which is on the north side of Sarnia Rd to the west of the CP tracks.

They are now proposing a 10-storey apartment building containing 182 residential units. As you can see from this thread, they previously received zoning approval for a 6-storey apartment building a few years ago.

Planning application page: https://london.ca/business-development/p...ns/planning-applications/801-sarnia-road

Planning application notice: https://london.ca/sites/default/files/20...ce%20of%20App%20%26%20PPM%20-%20AODA.pdf

[jammer139]

Even better proposal but RPH has no history of building apartment buildings. I would not be surprised this is just a land speculation move on their part to sell it to a building developer.

[CanadianTalk]

City planning staff is recommending that Council not approve the zoning changes that would allow for a 10-storey building on this site.

Several reasons are stated in the report; but it looks like one of the main reasons is that The London Plan only allows buildings up to 6-stories in height along a Civic Boulevard (aka. arterial road) in these types of areas.

https://london.ca/sites/default/files/20...20-%20801%20Sarnia%20Road%20%28CC%29.pdf

This goes to the planning committee on April 8th and then the Council meeting on April 22nd.

[jammer139]

The London Plan is clueless in calling Sarnia Rd a civic boulevard when it is a primary east-west road in the NW corner of the city that will see major growth in density in the coming years.

10 stories is ideal along this stretch of Sarnia Rd and I would expect PEC and Full Council to endorse the zoning.

Now it only this developer would ever build any of their apartment proposals.....

Originally Posted by CanadianTalk

City planning staff is recommending that Council not approve the zoning changes that would allow for a 10-storey building on this site.

Several reasons are stated in the report; but it looks like one of the main reasons is that The London Plan only allows buildings up to 6-stories in height along a Civic Boulevard (aka. arterial road) in these types of areas.

https://london.ca/sites/default/files/20...20-%20801%20Sarnia%20Road%20%28CC%29.pdf

This goes to the planning committee on April 8th and then the Council meeting on April 22nd.

[CanadianTalk]

The planning committee voted to reject this 10-storey building in a 4-1 vote, following the advice of city planning staff.

Next up is the April 22nd Council meeting.

London Free Press article: https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/proposed-10-storey-sarnia-road-apartment-too-tall-committee

[MolsonExport]

they thought nothing of putting 14 storey buildings in Hyde Park, where before nothing was more than 2 storeys, including my first and second house.

[GreatTallNorth2]

I'm not bothered if this building remains 6 stories. That is what the lot is planned for. I am just in Rome and the majority of buildings are around 6-8 stories and they are everywhere. That is what we need more of in London. We go from single family homes right to 25 floors and not much in between.

[MolsonExport]

I agree with this. They put a 6 storey building the next road over from my house. It is almost flush with the street, with underground parking, so it doesn't kill the urban fabric. Unlike those fugly 12 storey Drewlo apartment buildings...