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Report #2: to the Members of the
Planning Advisory Committee,
Town of Newcastle
From: John Layng, Planning Consultant
April 15, 1974
RE: APPLICATION FOR REZONING
VELTRI & SON, LTD.
This application for re-zoning to build a nine storey tower
for stores, offices and 54 apartments on an inside lot,
173'-9" x 167' - -3 ", on the north side of King Street,
Bowmanville, between Division and George Streets,
precipitates a review of the planning and economic objectives
for the central commercial core of Bowmanville.
King Street, between Scugog Street on the west and George
Street on the east, is the most significant and important
commercial-use street in the new Town of Newcastle. A
street of stores exists for the convenience of its customers.
The more prosperous it becomes, the better for both the
customers and the merchants.
A town street is more than a traffic artery or a pedestrian
way. it is an architectural space contained by the
continuity of the buildings which face it. King Street has
a pleasant curve in its linear progress and some changing
contours, both of which add positive interest to the space as
an entity.
2.
The present regularity of the heights of the buildings,
except for certain gaps, creates a visual order that
identifies the urban shopping location. The presence of
some available infill spaces and some buildings which could
be replaced with better designed and better quality buildings
does not negate the objective of a continuous, and yet
compact, street of stores.
Unexpected height, such as the proposed nine storey tower
(87 feet above the pavement) in one arbitrarily selected
spot, contrasting to the average existing heights of two and
three storeys, cannot be justified here by a race for
competitive space.
The economic effect of any nine- storey building on or near
the proposed site could be an unwanted disturbance to the
land values and rents of the surrounding properties. The
unreal raising and lowering of values could extend into the
properties along Church Street to the north and along Queen
Street to the south. The north properties would also be
shadowed by the tower.
Extra store frontage and good office space in a horizontal
building in scale with King Street would be welcome at this
site. The apartments of the tower feature could be placed
in a four or five storey building at another central
location off King Street. Bowmanville is not yet large
enough to support a drastic change in the occupancy
densities of the commercial areas. There is also the
threat of shopping centres in outlying areas.
Other negative indications are: the lack of street - -level
parking spaces, the lack of garden and open ground -level
space for the residential tenant families (forty -eight 2 &
3 bedrooms), awkward unloading spaces, and fire protection.
Aerial ladder equipment for fighting fires at 87 foot
elevations would be needed.
The Planning Advisory Committee should consider joining
forces with the merchants on PROJECT PRIDE to help
co-ordinate all the energies going into the improvements of
the commercial area.
RECOMMENDATION: UNTIL THE SUBJECT OF KING STREET, AS A PRIME
SHOPPING PLACE, CAN BE COMPLETELY RESTUDIED TO ASSESS THE
EC01:01MIC, PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURAL CONCERNS, AND TO
DETERMINE A POLICY, A DECISION ON THE PRESENT APPLICATION
SHOULD BE DETERRED.
Resp ctfully submitted,