Opinions

Letter for Open House - 141-149 Main Street East

Matt Ryan, Grimsby Resident

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

April 2, 2021

I am writing this letter to express my concern regarding the development at 141-149 Main Street East. My wife, two small children and I moved to Grimsby from Downtown Hamilton in November of 2019. Looking for an escape from the chaos that is downtown living. We longed for somewhere quiet, charming and pleasant to raise our children. We found that in Grimsby. Not unlike so many young families who have relocated here as of late.

My family’s outlook on the new development at 141-149 Main Street East (Directly at the corner of our street and where our children attend school) is one of pure disheartenment.

We’ve had our eye on this beautiful town for over 5 years. This comes as a severe blow to find out what made us fall in love with Grimsby is on the brink of being decimated… in our backyard, no less. An eye shot from where we live, across the street from where my children attend GreenBelt academy, where we love walking as a family will stand a towering concrete structure; casting a massive shadow over a neighbourhood we now consider ‘Home’.

You can find commercialism, condominiums and traffic-congested streets anywhere you look these days. Wouldn’t you want Grimsby to be original? To be the getaway? To be some other young new family’s greener pasture?

In a world that is rapidly developing at an astronomical rate, our ability to appreciate the few remaining parts of life that are still tangible and authentic is fleeting. We need to hold onto whatever semblance of culture, character and heritage we have - for as long as we can. One day we will all want that back, wish for simpler things… and it will be too far gone.

There is a sentiment I love that continues to ring true from the moment my family and I moved to Grimsby:

“It’s nice to be in a town where a yellow light still means slow down and not speed up.”

Thanks for your time.

Additionally, 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.

Respectfully,
Matthew Ryan Tobin