Niagara Falls city planners say council should not approve a controversial high-rise proposal along River Road.

A numbered company is requesting revised official plan and zoning bylaw amendments to build on lands along River Road, John Street and River Lane.

The company - 2486489 Ontario Ltd. - recently bought the land and wants approval for a 384-unit apartment complex with 34-storey and seven-storey towers.

Current city policy for that land allows development only up to seven storeys.

Previously, a 390-unit apartment building with 21 and 12-storey towers was proposed by 5507 River Development Inc.

The request was revised to be a 350-unit apartment building with 17- and 10-storey towers. The issue was deferred at an August 2018 council meeting, at the request of the applicant.

This file is currently before the Local Area Planning Tribunal, having been appealed by the previous owner. The current owner is seeking a decision of council that will form part of the appeal.

In a report scheduled to go before council Tuesday evening, staff said it cannot recommend the revised proposal because it exceeds height and density provisions for a residential designation.

Also, staff reports, it does not conform to the intent of the official plan in providing appropriate transition and separation distances between the established low-rise neighbourhood and the proposed high-rise building.

As well, staff reports, the lands are not within one of the intensification nodes or corridors identified for taller buildings or higher densities.

"With the lack of an appropriate setback and transition in built form to the surrounding neighbourhood, the excessive height of the south tower is out of character ... and expected to overwhelm and adversely impact the residential neighbourhood," reads the report.

"The development also does not provide an adequate interface with River Road, nor does it provide an appropriate human scale pedestrian environment at the street level."

The issue will be discussed at a public meeting Tuesday at council.

During a neighbourhood open house Oct. 28, the new developers said the project represents good planning and urban design.

The developers said the project is a more delicate-looking, sleek version of what had been proposed earlier, and that it fits with modern planning practices preferred by the province.

Those practices include infilling in existing urban areas with higher, denser buildings, rather than allowing the sprawl of decades in the past.

The developers, however, were met by dozens of residents who filled a committee room at city hall to object to the plan.

Residents living in the area just north of the Rainbow Bridge expressed outrage, saying the condo tower is not a good fit for their older, established neighbourhood and will hurt nearby property values.

City planner Andrew Bryce said the proposed tower would be similar to high-rise hotels in the tourist area.

Some residents said allowing high-rise development just steps from the Niagara Gorge would ruin views for neighbouring properties and open up other land along the river, from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, to potential large-scale development.

- with files from Paul Forsyth

Raymond.Spiteri@niagaradailies.com

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905-225-1645 | @RaySpiteri

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