Krug Factory Neighbourhood News

10/15/2024

The decision on the zone change application for the former Krug Factory property is coming before council tomorrow night, Tuesday, October 15th, at 7:00 p.m. Staff has recommended approving the application, so this zone change, complete with the controversial 10-storey tower, will very likely be approved at this meeting.

Currently reading through the very long list of supporting documents, there are some minor changes to the application. For more information, follow the link below, documents relating to the zone change start on page 27.

https://calendar.stratford.ca/meetings/Detail/2024-10-15-1900-Regular-Council/bfff9d47-bf73-4975-a86f-b205014e62aa

06/29/2024

Thanks to everyone who came out to the meeting last night or watched it online. If you missed it, you weren't the only one, only five out of ten councillors were present. Caroline Baker, of the Baker Planning Group, representing the developer (no one from BMI seemed to be present either) gave a factual presentation on the zone change, and then the public was allowed to make presentations and ask questions. And there were a lot. There was a great turnout from people in the neighbourhood as well as the larger community, Council Chambers were full, chairs for the overflow put out in the hall, and many people raised concerns. There were many good points raised, and the general opinion of the people who spoke (and in the audience, judging by reactions) was that renovating the factory for housing, and adding some type of housing development to the site was good, but the proposed density was too much for the neighbourhood, and for Stratford. There was great dislike of the ten story tower. There were also comments that information on this project has been harder to access than it should have been. And now we wait until it comes before Council for a vote. Hope some of them were listening to the voices that spoke last night. Also hoping the ones who weren't present watch the video and read their information packages before the vote.

06/27/2024

Just a reminder that the rescheduled public meeting for the Krug Factory redevelopment is tomorrow night, Thursday, June 27th at 7:00 pm in the Council Chambers at City Hall. All are welcome to attend, comment on the project, or ask questions. According to the City's website, the decision on the re-zoning of this project is expected in July. This means this is likely the only chance we will have for input about this project before Council votes on it.

If you've read some of our previous posts, you know that we are generally in favour of the factory being converted into housing, and adding 144 units to our neighbourhood. We may have some logistical questions, but the factory is a beautiful and historic building, and we are happy to see it restored and used for homes.

It's the rest of the project, the part BMI isn't talking about so much, that we are struggling with. The re-zoning request is about a lot more than simply changing from factory to residential, it's about exceeding the building height and residential density limits that are set out in Stratford's Official Plan. It's about setbacks, and how close you can build to your neighbour's lot. If those things are going to change, and affect how our city grows and develops, shouldn't the citizens of Stratford be the ones to decide that? Shouldn't we be having those discussions as a community instead of letting developers tell us how they think we should grow?

No matter how you feel about this project, whether you think it should go ahead as is, or whether you feel, as we do, that while development is good, the scope of this project, 382 multi-residential units in a single city block, is just too much for this neighbourhood... come to the meeting on Thursday night. Let your voice be heard.

See you there.

(If you can't make it to the meeting, you can always watch it online, but it won't be as much fun. Follow the link below.)

https://engagestratford.ca/z01-24 )

06/26/2024

Just realized the link to BMI's website was missed in the earlier post...
https://bmibuildingforbetter.ca/the-builders-block

The site has some good information about how they are redeveloping the actual factory building, and that part of this project, we agree with. We definitely have questions, but the re-use of the factory is not one of them.

The Builders Block

06/25/2024

As we get closer to Thursday’s re-scheduled public meeting, BMI has updated their website to provide some information about their plans. It includes a number of concept drawings, the first they have made publicly available. There is a FAQs section that addresses some of the questions that have been most commonly asked by the community. It has been difficult to find this information until now, so have a look before the meeting. For reference, the concept drawing below is of the internal road for the development, at the point it exits mid-block onto Trinity Street.

06/21/2024

If you have only ever seen the Krug neighbourhood as you drive past on Douro, come visit us on King, Regent, and Trinity for a different view! We are seeing cars regularly driving by to check out the development area. While you are here, look up one of the site plans on our page and try to visualize what it would look like if BMI’s current proposal is approved.

06/18/2024

In talking to people about the proposed redevelopment of the former Krug factory, we’ve heard the question “Are you against all development of this site?” The answer is absolutely not...as a neighbourhood, we are generally in favour of the redevelopment of the factory building itself. There is a need for housing, and we can’t keep building on farmland, so it makes sense to infill. We most definitely have questions, reasonable ones like “Can the sewers and other infrastructure handle the additional loads?”, and “How will this impact traffic?” The kind of questions that anyone might ask if faced with the prospect of adding 144 new housing units to their neighbourhood. Think about that for a moment...one hundred and forty-four new housing units. Now imagine they are being added to your neighbourhood. I’m sure you would have some questions too. But this proposal is about much more than just those 144 units being planned for the factory building. It’s also about an additional 238 units, for 382 units in total. In one city block. Our neighbourhood has heard for years that the factory would eventually close, and either be turned into housing or torn down. Honestly, we would be very happy to see the factory restored and used for housing; it is a beautiful old building that fits seamlessly into the streetscape and we don’t want to lose it. We’ve also heard for years that the rest of the property would be used for housing as well. We were expecting that. We were expecting housing on a scale that reflects the surrounding area. We were not expecting the development that has been proposed. We were not expecting eight new multiresidential buildings, one of them ten storeys high, and all of them taller than any of the existing homes. On the streets surrounding the Krug site, there are eighteen houses on Trinity St., seventeen bordering the factory on Douro, five more on King St, and several small businesses, mostly on Regent St. That is only forty houses. BMI’s proposal is almost ten times that total, nearly four hundred housing units. We are currently a very low density area, but this proposal would turn the Krug site into the highest density area in Stratford by far. BMI has asked for a rezoning of the property to R5(3), the highest density category available, and beyond that, they are requesting zoning changes well above the limits currently allowed for R5(3) under Stratford’s Official Plan. Our neighbourhood is not at all against redeveloping the factory building, and we are not against reasonable development on the rest of the site. What we are against is the sheer massive scale of the development that BMI wants to impose on us. It is far too big for this quiet residential neighbourhood. The factory being reused as housing for 144 new neighbours? That is a significant addition, but with proper planning would be welcomed. The other 238? That number we are struggling with.

06/16/2024

If you are interested in information about BMI's planned redevelopment of the Krug site, you can request copies of the documents submitted with their application. The "Planning Justification Report" is a summary, most of the other reports cover a specific area in detail. Contact Stratford's Planning Department to get copies.

https://engagestratford.ca/z01-24

06/05/2024

The new date for the public meeting regarding the development of the former Krug Factory has been announced, it is now scheduled for Thursday, June 27th. Many of you have had some very important questions about this project, and the City is asking for your opinion on this. Please pass on your comments to the planning department, contact info is in the letter below. Comments received by Monday, June 10th will be summarized in a report during the June 27th meeting.

06/02/2024

ALL ABOUT LAST WEEK'S RUCKUS AT CITY HALL

READ IT IN THE NEWSLETTER
https://us2.campaign-archive.com/?u=6ce277ca9839afd8acbfe1d0d&id=ad3499e9a1

Stratford Council’s meeting Tuesday night was abruptly cancelled by Mayor Ritsma, causing anger and frustration for the approximately 100 people in attendance. The public meeting was scheduled to consider the controversial application of Juliana Development, Inc. for an amendment to the Zoning By-law. The company is proposing a 10-storey tower in their redevelopment of the old Krug factory at Trinity and King. The meeting was to invite public comment.

Despite being “banned” from attending public buildings, Mike Sullivan attended the meeting to speak to some of the environmental difficulties of the project. His attendance led to the meeting’s unprecedented cancellation.

05/29/2024

So who else saw that? Or heard the boos?

The council chamber was full, people standing in the back. Twenty minutes after the meeting was supposed to start, it was unexpectedly and without explanation, postponed until further notice. The mayor and most of the councillors left the room to heavy booing.