Opinions

Letter for Open House - 141-149 Main Street East

Kassandra Nokes, Grimsby Resident

Re: Mixed-use proposal at 141-149 Main Street East

July 6, 2021

Good morning,

I am writing this letter to express my concern regarding the development at 141-149 Main Street East.

My husband and I purchased a home on Dorchester Drive last May. We had been living in a town home in Binbrook and become frustrated by the intensification and continued “sprawl” growth that continually kept taking place. We have two very young sons and were looking to move to an established community where that sort of development was likely not to occur. We were drawn to Grimsby immediately and have loved our first few months being a part of this community. We love walking down Main St. E and looking at the heritage homes and general feel of the area.

It was upsetting to learn about this proposed development, particularly so close to our new home. It’s plan seems to contradict the spirit of the area. Being familiar with how a building such as this can affect a community, I’m convinced that the area itself isn’t ready for it. There is not enough infrastructure in place to handle the addition of this building, especially when taking into account the five story building planned to be built adjacent to it. Most importantly though, I find it sad that although we moved to escape this type of development, we just seemed to have moved into more of it.

One of the things we have loved most about Grimsby is discovering how vocal the residents are, particularly when it comes to protecting their town. My husband and I are adding our voices to their concern saying that this style of development is not what we want for our family. What I am curious about is how willing the town council is in responding to the concerns voiced by its residents.

I hereby state my opposition to the proposed development in that:

• The proposed development is over-intensification of the site.
• The proposed development is not “sensitive to the surrounding housing character”
• The proposed development does not respect or protect “the small-town character and feel of Grimsby”.
• The proposed development does not “protect Grimsby’s culture and heritage”
• The proposed development does not respect or “maintain the existing streetscape character of Main Street East”.

I respectfully request that this Council not permit the development as proposed and require the developer to scale down the mass of the proposal, respect the existing streetscape character, and adhere to the maximum allowable building height of 8.5m for the existing Neighbourhood Commercial Area zoning.

I would ask that my comments be presented for consideration by the applicant at this Open House. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.

Respectfully, Kassandra Nokes