Date set for Homestead high-rise project appeal while City of Kingston remains on the sidelines – Kingston | The Canadian News

A court date has been set in the latest chapter in a long-running battle over an estate versus a high-rise development in downtown Kingston.

The Frontenac Heritage Foundation is seeking permission to appeal a recent Ontario Land Court ruling that authorized Homestead Land Holdings Ltd. to build two apartment towers on lower Queen Street in downtown Kingston, a project that has been become a focal point for city battles in recent years. .

The 19- and 23-story residential buildings would be located on opposite sides of the street near Queen and King streets, one behind the Smith Robinson Office Building and the other behind Goodlife Fitness and the LCBO store, in surface parking lots.

The case will be the focus of a virtual hearing in Ontario divisional court on Friday, February 25, with lawyers for the foundation and Homestead expected to present arguments.

The heritage group contends that the land court made “errors of law” in its November 4, 2021, ruling in favor of the Homestead development.

It will be up to the court to decide whether the group’s appeal has any merit and what the next steps will be.

In a statement last November, Frontenac Heritage Foundation President Shirley Bailey said the land court’s decision goes against the city’s tradition of preserving “the valuable and unrivaled heritage character of the city center.”

The foundation noted that the court reached the opposite conclusion from an earlier court decision on the project, published in August 2019. That earlier decision denied high-rise construction on the basis of height, saying the buildings would create an ” visual intrusion to the urban landscape and the prevailing built context” and were not “compatible with the surrounding area”.

A new hearing of the matter was ordered in March 2021.

In the Nov. 4 decision, the court’s new hearing ruled that the two skyscrapers support the city’s efforts to “protect the economic viability of the downtown area, satisfy the city’s interests with respect to financial cost implications and income and will not lead to instability.”

The Kingston city council is on record in support of the Homestead buildings, but will not be involved in the upcoming court case.

Councilmembers say there is no need to spend tax money and will watch the legal battle from the sidelines.

“This is essentially a Homestead issue. There really is no need for the city to be present,” the Count said. Rob Hutchison at the January 11 board meeting where the matter was briefly discussed.

The city had until January 21 to decide whether to join the legal case.

Councilmembers voted unanimously to stay out of the fight, but city staff may still be called as witnesses to support the Homestead project.

Earl Wayne Hill emphasized that the city’s lack of support in the divisional court case should not be seen as a lack of support for the housing project.

“I don’t want to give the impression that by doing this we are not supporting this project. I think it is important for housing in the center of the city.”

Bailey agrees that housing intensification is important for downtown, but questions the scale of this project.

“The foundation’s position is simple: We support escalation but we don’t see the need for 19 or 23 floors as necessary.”

— with files from Alexandra Mazur