Losani gets greenlight to increase number of units in eight storey apartment building

By Casandra Turnbull

In a narrow 5-4 recorded vote, council has endorsed a staff recommendation to amend a comprehensive zoning bylaw that will allow Losani Homes to put additional units in an eightstorey apartment complex planned for vacant land at 139 Court Drive in Paris The amendment, say staff, conforms with the newly adopted Official Plan (approved in 2023) when it eventually comes into effect This approval will open the number of units Losani can put in the second proposed apartment building which will be adjacent to an already approved apartment complex they are building on 139 Court Drive. Construction has not begun on either building, both which will stand eight storeys tall Losani could not provide have a timeline on when construction will start. The request to modify the existing residential high-density, site-specific zoning provisions to facilitate further intensification has drawn sharp criticism from area residents and was the cause of a lot of debate among councillors during the October 8th council meeting

Emily Elliott, an agent from MHBC Planning, representing Losani Homes, presented before council in the open meeting that

This rendering of the proposed apartment building in Paris was presented by MHBC, on behalf of Losani Homes, during an October 8th council meeting. Losani is building two apartment buildings at 139 Court Drive was attended by many residents living in the Court Drive area. This additional apartment building will feature one- and two-bedroom units and there are plans to construct 272 parking spaces for its residents, many of them in a two-level underground parking structure. These buildings are part of Simply Grand 2 Subdivision that was draft approved in 2014 and registered in 2021. The limited number of units allowed in the original plans were approved under pervious zoning bylaws over 10 years ago, said Elliott, and by allowing Losani to construct more units they would in turn be providing ‘a more attainable form of market-based housing ’

Both Councillor John Peirce and John Bell had questions surrounding the affordability of the units, versus attainability, a term used often during Elliott’s brief presentation “One bedroom, two-bedroom, three bedroom – we need those in our community. But you use the word attainable – that simply means there are units available, but it doesn’t matter what the cost is Has there been any discussion at all if these will be for rent or for sale?” asked Peirce. Bell followed up with his own observation. “There are similar developments from this developer – take Binbrook for example – what do they charge to rent?” he questioned Elliott could not answer both questions, stating tenure of these developments has not been decided at this time, nor has the price point, which she said is subject to several factors, including market conditions. She did say, “At this point there is no affordable units proposed. At this stage (in the project) we are looking at zoning for land use only.” Continued on page