Heather Wright/The Independent

There are plans in the works for a six-storey, 87-unit apartment building on Murray Street in Corunna.

Vensuris Design and Build, owners of the new medical clinic on Murray Street, presented plans for the development to council Feb. 17

The proposal would see a mix of one and two bedroom units with starting at 735 square feet according to the drawings submitted to council.

There would be a new driveway onto Murray and parking for 109 vehicles, about 21 less than required under St. Clair Township’s zoning rules.

Jordon Folkens, a planning consultant with BM Ross, told council the plot of land is a good spot for the apartment building.

“It’s fully serviced. You don’t have to extend any infrastructure to service this site, which makes good use of municipal infrastructure that’s in place,” he said.

“It’s within walking distance of a number of commercial facilities, park land, the waterfront, which is something we want to see. We want to create walkable communities that are fully serviced.”

The land needs a zoning change to allow the building.

Neighbours in the area voiced concerns about the amount of parking, past drainage issues and shadowing impacts on nearby homes.

Otto and Joan Vallinga were among those voicing their concerns. “The height of this proposed building simply does not fit in this neighbourhood, one that has homes being that of a storey-and-a half. The only building in Corunna that is anywhere near this height is Wellings, which is at the other end of town, not mixed in with homes of those you see in the Murray Street area.”

Councillors also had some issues with the plan, including parking. Councillor Pat Brown says it is already difficult to find a parking spot in the area.

“The medical centre is under serviced with parking spaces, and now you’re saying that you might get an easement through their parking lot. I was there today and the parking lot was full,” he said adding there is a lot of traffic on Hill Street. “You got to be aware of coming and going out of that parking lot in the medical centre”

Deputy Mayor Steve Miller also expressed concern. “We already know we have a parking
problem, so I could suggest we defer this until we deal with that issue,” he said.

Council agreed and delayed the project until the developer comes up with a better plan for parking.