Two multi-residential buildings proposed for Florence Street West

Work has already started on clearing vacant lands situated between 76 and 78 Florence Street West to make way for two multi-residential buildings proposed by project principal Paul Materski.

The site plan for the apartment complex which would comprise two, 26-unit buildings with underground parking and elevators was approved by Huntsville’s Development Services Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020.

The buildings proposed would be located on lands that are about 1.65ha (4.077 acres) in area, with 19.3m of frontage on Florence Street West.

“The property is currently vacant, it varies in topography, sloping down towards Main Street, and is well-vegetated. The surrounding uses are residential and commercial in nature,” according to a report about the application submitted to committee by Huntsville senior planner Elizabeth Reimer.

According to Reimer the Town’s Operations and Protective Services Department is not concerned with added traffic in that area. “It is their opinion that Florence Street is more than wide enough to accommodate the traffic volume and it basically acts as a collector road which will move traffic quicker than other local roads,” she said, adding that there are no traffic lights or major intersections within the immediate surrounding area that could result in vehicle stacking at an intersection.

“The zoning has been approved for quite some time,” she said, adding that if the proposal changes significantly then a traffic study may be required.

Prompted by a question from Huntsville Mayor Karin Terziano, who said she’d heard from residents concerned with the type of lighting that would be used in the development, Reimer said dark-sky policies apply and that the developer would be using full cut-off and dark-sky friendly exterior lighting.

Councillor Dan Armour asked how far the entrance to the development would be from the bottom of the hill. Reimer said the Operations department did not voice any concerns about an entrance there.

Terziano said vehicles going up the hill travel at a good speed and said signs will be put up in the area warning vehicles to travel slowly, and hopefully there will be a wide entrance to the development.

Councillor Jonathan Wiebe concurred with the need for signage and welcomed the development: “How fast can we get it done?”

Committee approved the site plan application. You can view the staff report here.

Correction: An earlier version of this story noted that the proposed development is located on Florence Street East, as was noted in the Town of Huntsville’s planning report. The error has been corrected.

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