WATERLOO - Waterloo council has been asked to approve apartment towers at up to twice the permitted height on Erb Street West, as part of a massive plan to build 1,014 rental apartments just west of Waterloo's uptown core.

The plan by a Halifax-based landlord would redevelop lands around the Westmount Place plaza at Westmount Road, Erb Street West and Dietz Avenue. Council and the public got a first look at it Monday.

The proposal calls for six towers of at least 11 storeys, the tallest reaching 25 storeys, plus a five-storey building and an internal private street. It includes a four-storey parking structure.

City hall has been asked to abandon a height limit of roughly 12 storeys it has imposed along Erb Street West, and agree to reduce parking by one-third to 1,526 spaces for residents and businesses.

"It is going to be too high," said Al Way, who lives in a 12-storey condominium tower on the other side of Erb Street. "It will permanently scar that streetscape."

Nine houses on Erb Street West and two small apartment buildings on Dietz Avenue would be demolished.

Seniors who live next door at Luther Village retirement complex have concerns around construction impacts, traffic congestion, privacy, lost greenery, and air quality related to an adjacent parking garage.

"The densification is going to impact our safety, our health," Paul Ruppel said, speaking for Luther Village residents. "We don't know how this is going to affect property values."

No decisions were made at Monday's public meeting. Another public meeting will be held before Waterloo council judges the proposal.

"You're going to be getting a lot of interested people wanting to offer their input," Coun. Tenille Bonoguore told Andrew Kent, associate director of developments for Killam Apartment REIT.

Proposed highrises will meet height limits if they are relocated inside the mall property, rather than along Erb Street West.

Kent said Erb Street is the better location for the towers, in part because this has the least impact on the mall which provides jobs and services for residents.

The redevelopment, to be completed in five phases over a decade, would retain the commercial plaza and the Sun Life office building. When completed it would provide 1,439 bedrooms.

"We try to build good-quality buildings," Kent told council, showing examples of Killam rental buildings across the country, including in Cambridge. "Our buildings are nice to look at."

Councillors suggested the city might consider extra height in return for community benefits provided by the developer.

Sandee Lovas will lose her apartment in a small building to be demolished. She figures new apartments will cost $500 more per month to rent, too steep she argues for lower-income tenants like her who will be displaced.

"I don't want to leave Waterloo," she said. "But sometimes I wonder, when did we stop belonging here?"

Councillors asked Kent about providing apartments below market rents. He said 'affordable' units are harder to provide in expensive new buildings and are more easily provided in older buildings.

The firm argues that its project will intensify underused lands in line with provincial planning goals.

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