‘Throw this right out the window’: Plans for West Galt tower face backlash

Plans to build a 28-storey tower in West Galt faced significant backlash from Cambridge councillors and residents at a public meeting on Tuesday.

Scott Patterson of Patterson Planning Consultants presented plans to build a 28-storey tower on Grand Avenue in West Galt. The build includes more than 300-units, a mix one and two-bedroom units, with commercial space located within the first six floors of the building.

Cambridge residents and councillors had plenty of problems with plans for the tower, especially when considering the character of the surrounding neighbourhood.

West Galt is characterized by its narrow roads and tight corners. Residents believe that adding hundreds of vehicles to the area would greatly worsen existing traffic and parking concerns.

“It’s a small little street with cars going in and out, it just can’t work,” said John Reed, a delegate at Tuesday’s meeting who mentioned that he owned a business near that corner.

The tower would also dwarf the surrounding buildings, which are mostly made up of single-family homes and the Grace Bible Church just down the road.

“The developer, the proponent, better go right back to the drawing board and start from square one,” said Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett. “Throw this right out the window, and come back with something that’s suitable for our community.”

Councillor Scott Hamilton noted that the build could be a positive for the community if built in the right way, as many downtown Cambridge businesses are in need of more foot traffic to make ends meet.

“If we want to make (Cambridge) vibrant, we need people living in places where they can walk to things, where they can do community-grounded activities, where they can shop, where they can play, where they can stroll along the river. That’s where I see the potential in this,” said Hamilton.

Others believe that a tower of that size could never work in West Galt.

“I’m not that person saying not in my backyard, because I don’t live along there, but we need to be respectful of the environment,” said Councillor Mike Devine. “You want to put 28 storeys north of the 401, north of Hespeler? You go ahead, there are all kinds of land out there. But, I don’t believe it belongs here.”

The developers will take these comments into consideration when crafting their proposal for council’s consideration at a future meeting.