If Cachet is willing to take the time to respond to these questions, it may simply use a different colour font and fill in responses below each item and return the package to the Wilmot Clerk.

1)  How do the concerns between Cachet developments and the Region of Waterloo regarding the discussions about the MCR process get resolved by an MZO application to Wilmot Township?

2)  Using the sketch on page 43 and the charts on pages 44 & 45, which of the following conclusions are True or False and, if false, why:

a) 5 of the residential and mixed-use buildings are 6-storeys (75 1/2 feet, high) and contain 800 of the 1200 units (67% of all units).

b) 5 of the residential and mixed-use buildings are 6-storeys (75 1/2 feet high) and contain 950 of the 1500 units (64% of all units).

c) of the 1200 units, then 2/3rds, or 1,353.933 persons will be living in a -storey building

d) of the 1500 units, then 2/3rds, or 1,692.41667 of the total 2,538.6258 persons will be living in a -storey building

e) each unit in 4 of the 5 buildings are designed to hold 1.276 persons each, and each unit in the 5^th building are designed for 2.369 persons each

f) 100 of the1200 units are designed to accommodate 3.002 persons each

g) Not one of the 1200 or 1500 units is designed to accommodate a family of 4 or more persons (2 parents, 2 children, cat, dog, budgie, gerbil, fish)

3)  Questions – general

a) if the density moves from 1200 to 1500 units on the same footprint (sketch page 43, how does Cachet plan to accommodate that increase density?

b) Is Cachet homes using the 6-storey proposal as an opening bid and has considered buildings of fewer storeys?

c) How does Cachet’s request for 6-storey buildings align with urbanMetrics statement that people are moving westward for ground-related reasons (search for single-detached, semi-detached, row units?

d) What is the persuasive, logical argument that Cachet has as a rationale for its request for a 65 pj/ha knowing that Wilmot’s is 45 pj/ha, Golden Horseshoe is 50 pj/ha and Waterloo Region is 60 pj/ha?

e) Is Cachet prepared to provide an artist’s drawing, to scale, of the view of the eastern exposure of the development along Nafziger line, from ground level (side view) from an angle that illustrates the relative heights of the mixed-use and singles in the background, i.e. as if standing at the southern point of the trail, and looking along the trail toward the northwest?

f) If an MZO authorization was to be approved, explain why this would not be an estoppel binding Wilmot Township (and potentially surrounding Municipalities in waterloo Region) in its planning criteria in future?

g) Why was there not an archaeological assessment report included in this application?

h) Why did Cachet not pay the zoning amendment application fee of $5000?

 

4)  Questions arising out an alignment of the sketch on page 43 (of agenda package), the Zoning Application pages 21 – 25 (of agenda package), and the Master Plan “Storyline” roads map page 79 (of agenda package):

a) What are the road widths from curb to curb?

b) What is the distance from the edge of the roadway to the base of the building at its foundation, particularly in the residential areas?

c) What is the width of a snowplow blade when resting on the road pathway?

d) Are the roads wide enough to accommodate a snowplow and oncoming vehicles to pass each other safely?

e) Will there be on-street parking available on both sides of all roads (main collector and internal streets) where there are residential units?

f) Where are garbage and recyclable containers to be placed by residents ready for pickup?

g) •i)How is garbage managed in the 6-storey high-rise buildings?

g) ii) Will there be inside or outside “dumpsters” located at any place in the entire development, and if so how many and where are they to be located,

g) iii) Who is responsible for the cost of the collection in “public/commercial” areas?

h) The rear-lane townhouses are 37 ½ feet high and have a private lane running along the rear of each row.

h) i) What is the width of the lane from lot line to lot line?

h) ii) If the lane behind the rear-lane townhouses is private, and a vehicle accident occurs, then the vehicle’s driver/owner will be unable to call the police to investigate and enforce their legal rights as the event occurred on that lane which is deemed private property. How do vehicle owners access their legal rights under the law on these rear-lane routes?

i) How is the snow cleared from the rear of the rear-lane townhouses along the private lane?

i) I) Where is the snow then deposited?

i) ii) If the snow is piled somewhere how is potential salt leakage from plowed snow remediated for environmental purposes?

j) Is there street lighting provided for security along all roadways?

k) Is there street lighting provided for security along the private laneways?

l) The front yard setback to the foundation of all buildings is 4.5 metres, or 14 feet 9 inches, or less than the length of two sheets of plywood placed end to end. Off-street parking per dwelling is 1.25 spaces.

l) i)Is there a vehicle driveway at the front of each residence or just a walkway to access the residences?

l) ii) If there are driveways, is each driveway long enough to park a standard pickup truck in it without encroaching on the roadway?

l) iii) Are there interior vehicle garages, with an 8 feet wide garage door, designed into the buildings for every i) single detached, ii) semi-detached, iii) townhouse, iv) back-to-back townhouse?

l) iv) If there is an interior garage provided for each residence, what design features are anticipated to eliminate the street line effect of garage doors looking like a row of mailboxes lined up beside one after each other?

l) v) After the snowplow passes along the streets where is all the accumulated snow pushed on a lot 14 ¾ feet deep and 29 1/2 feet wide before you subtract the width of the driveway itself?

m) NOTE: This rear-lane design concept is one imported from some developments in the GTA that do not have driveways or garages and have multiple modes of easily accessible public transit to many destinations, and the rear lane is used therefor access to back-yard parking, garbage storage/collection.

m) i) Is it anticipated that there may be rear parking along the private lane between the rear-lane townhouses?

n) There is a provision for off-street parking for visitor and non-residential vehicles.

n) i) Where on the plan is this parking located, and how many spaces are provided for in the plan?

o) The proposal provides for a “high occupancy vehicle facility”.

o) i) What is this, a multi-level parking garage, a bus barn?

o) ii)Where is it to be located on the plan?

o) iii) Is this just consultants’ language for Transit Hub or bus stop?

p) The lot frontage for each single-detached residence is 9 metres, 29 ½ feet or 3 ½ sheets of plywood wide. The interior side yard setback (space between each residence is 1.2 metres, less than 4 feet, less than the width of a sheet of plywood. The math calculates a house width (exterior dimensions not the floor area inside the walls) as about 21 feet wide, or about 2 ½ sheets of plywood wide. All given dimensions are for buildings’ exteriors, but people eat, sleep, bathe and watch TV inside.

p) i) What is the occupiable floor area/living space (after exterior and interior wall widths have been deducted) on each level for each type of residence?

p) ii) How many rooms, including bedrooms, bathrooms. kitchens, eating areas, living room, storage closets are designed into each type of residence (single, semi, townhouse, back-to-back, cluster)?

q) The mixed-use commercial zone consists of 6-storey buildings, 75 ½ feet tall.

q)i) Are these buildings going to wooden frame construction, or have poured concrete floors and support columns?

g) ii) What are the anticipated design options for these high-rise buildings; ex. Commercial on the ground floor and residential stacked on upper 5-storeys?

r) The occupancy rate for each type of residential unit is specified on page 45. The occupancy for seniors, for example, is 1.276 per unit.

r) i) Is it accurate to conclude that the .276 is not the vase on the mantel containing the ashes of the resident senior’s spouse? (Sorry, I threw that one in to see if you were paying attention. You can smile if you want.)

s) The occupancy rate for affordable housing, rental apartments, condominium apartments, mixed-use condominium apartments are also 1.276 persons. In other words, these are all designed to accommodate either one person comfortably or two people who are crammed in tightly in less than optimum living conditions.

The total population, that this MZO application proposal provides for is calculated by the number of units times the individual occupancy rates, which equals 2,030.9 persons. (page 45)

• Five of the proposed unit types in the MZO application will accommodate only one person comfortably.
• Two of the proposed unit types in the MZO application will accommodate only two people comfortably.
• The 100 single detached dwellings will accommodate only 3 people comfortably.
• All units in this proposal are so small that not one of the units has enough space for a family of 2 parents and 2 or more children with or without pets. In other words, I postulate that the opportunity for families to live in this development does not exist. You can provide a rationale for disagreeing.

How does this inability for a family of 2 parents, 2 children and pets to live here somehow help Wilmot become a “complete community”? (definition page 42)

• How does this compressed living space align with the stated desires of potential buyers of accommodations in Wilmot Township looking for “ground-related” housing? (page 103)

 

5)  Who pays for What?

a)The MZO application proposal includes a transportation hub to allow residents access to services offsite.

• Who will bear the costs for developing the physical infrastructure for this site?

• There does not appear to be any calculation of the effect of large vehicles such as buses entering and leaving the Mixed-Use / Transit Hub. Who bears the cost of widening the southern site road to accommodate these large vehicles?

b) The proposed lands are situated in a relatively isolated spot. The MZO application deals with essential services (page 50) that must be in place before Cachet’s proposed development is able to have residents legally move in. These essential services have costs. At the Ira Needles Developments, for example, the essential support infrastructure costs were and are being carried by the developer(s).

As the developer of this proposed Nafziger Road development, will Cachet Developments be paying for the costs of the required services for:

c) stormwater management ponds, (page 50)

d) on-site pumping station(s),

e) sanitary sewers,

f) wastewater sewers,

g) potable water main supply connecting lines from treatment plant(s), (page 50)

h) stormwater sewers, (page 50)

I) sewage water mains and connecting lines to the treatment plant(s), (page 50)

j) provision and installation of appropriate traffic control signage (traffic lights and/or roundabouts) at the central access and the southern access where the transit hub is located, (page 50)

k) widening of Nafziger Road in anticipation of increased and potentially congested north-south traffic flow, (page 50)

l) installation of at least 2 ‘storage lanes’ to accommodate traffic congestion for those north-bound vehicles waiting to enter the proposed development area off Nafziger Road, and provide for traffic exiting the proposed development onto Nafziger Road both to north and south, (page 50)

m) installing, safety security, and maintenance of the SWM Pond of 2.09 ha at the south end of the proposed development, (page 43)

n) play equipment, benches, walkways at the park at the north end, (page 43)

o) provision and installation of fencing of the perimeter, and appropriate landscaping throughout the development, (page 43)?

p) If the answer to any or all of the questions of the above cost is, “No. Cachet Developments will not pay for these development costs.”, then who does it propose, will pay to provide which services?

6)  Align Development Components to a Timeline

a) Medical Building: There is provision for a 6-storey building described as “medical”.

• When is this going to be built/completed?
• Does the developer have a sub-contractor willing to complete construction on this 6-storey building simultaneously with the residential occupations?
• Does the developer have a plan to get all the medical professionals to fill such a building?
• This medical building is designed as being bigger i.e., (taller at 6-storeys vs 4) and longer than each medical building at Ira Needles in Kitchener. Ira Needles draws on the entire population of Kitchener, Waterloo, and surrounding townships including Wilmot. Does Cachet have a viable business plan based upon demographic research that indicates that “Wilmot Village”, with a population of 2,030.9 potential inhabitants can fill such a medical facility?

 

b) Mixed-Use / Employment: There is 3.41 ha set aside for future employment opportunities. The rationale in the cover documents is that people who live here will be able to work here, and thus it becomes a “complete community”. It’s implied that the community will be complete because it will be self-supporting. If you buy in, move there, you will be able to walk to work there. The population projection is for 2,030.9 persons.

• Eliminate the seniors. Does Cachet have connections the indicate that it has knowledge that 1,000 or more people in Wilmot Village are going to find work on-site that will pay them enough to live there?
• Do the local Chambers’ of Commerce agree that this is a practical option in the short run?

c) 4 Office Buildings: The application indicates that there will be four 6-storey office buildings located here. If we guess at 50 people per storey, times 6-storeys, times 4 buildings, that’s 1200 people working there.

• Are they all going to work AND live there?
• 800 of the living units are designed for one person. Are 2/3 of the office workers, assumed to be living and working there, going to be “singles”?
• In 4 buildings, with 6-storeys each, is a reasonable estimate that somewhere between 24 – 72 different businesses need to be attracted to Wilmot Village to fill 24 storeys in 4 office buildings?
• Has Cachet been in contact with the appropriate Chambers of Commerce to get any indication of how successful they have been so far in attracting businesses in this area?
• Does Cachet have a builder willing to construct four 6-storey office buildings?
• Does Cachet, or is Cachet persuaded that office buildings’ contractors have signed commitments to locate there as future tenants?
• How long do you estimate it will take to fill 4 office towers?

 

Summary Comments

Everyone wants a place to live.

Additional living space is needed in Wilmot.

Potential development in Wilmot would be good, depending on the details of what, where, how much, and how it is done.

Developers play an essential role in communities’ growth and assume some risks which they attempt to mitigate using their experience, connections and any possible method of getting approvals through quickly and cheaply.

Reasonable profit for business is good.

Fiscal due diligence and not using a MZO process by a municipality is best.

Is Cachet Developments willing to use the traditional (non MZO) process to continue negotiations with Wilmot Township to potentially develop its holdings on Nafziger Road?

 

Last Question

How many of all the people (including consultants) who are participants in the production of this application would be willing to buy and live in one of these units, if they could ‘work from home’ in Wilmot Village or in one of the office buildings?