Goderich council has approved, in principal, the beginning of a zoning application for the of development of condominiums on the corner of Hamilton Street and St. Andrews Street.
Mayor John Grace said they're still in the very early stages, but the proposed development would consist of between 60 and 70 units
Grace said points were made by people who were in favour of the development and those who were opposed. The issue that generated the most discussion was parking. The proposal, as it stands now, only has 60 underground parking spaces, so if they decide on more than 60 units, they won't have a parking space for each unit.
"That had a healthy discussion and came to a vote and it was clearly supported by council and also supported by the planner that the development could go ahead with less than one parking space per condo," said Grace.
Grace said if they put 70 units in the building there would be 10 units that wouldn't have a parking space. But Grace added they could change that, depending on the market.
He suggested the market could dictate that they have to find additional parking space for each unit.
“If there are 70 units in the building, there would only be sixty spaces available. Now, they could change it, due to the market. Maybe the market will tell them that they need to step it up and they need to provide additional parking space," he said.
Grace said it is very early in the process and they have time to work out some of the details, but adds the condo would provide some much-needed residential development in the downtown core.