Old East Village BIA 'blindsided' by mayor’s idea to redevelop parking lots into housing

There was no communication between Mayor Josh Morgan and the Old East Village (OEV) BIA before three parking lots in the business district appeared on a shortlist of municipal properties under consideration for redevelopment into residential high rises.

“I kind of feel blindsided,” fumed OEV BIA General Manager Kevin Morrison. “I would have appreciated the common courtesy from the mayor to get in touch with me.”

Last week, a report was posted on the agenda of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee to spend up to $137,000 on a more detailed investigation of five municipal parking lots to determine if they can be redeveloped into high-rises with garages that include public parking.

“People are reaching out and providing their feedback, which is exactly what is supposed to happen in a public process,” responded Morgan. “So, Mr. Morrison can share his thoughts and his considerations”

An initial list of 19 municipal lots were narrowed down to five on a priority list:

• 641 Queens Ave. (Old East Village)
• 434 Elizabeth St. (Old East Village)
• 824 Dundas St. (Old East Village)
• 84 Horton St. (Horton and Ridout)
• 199 Ridout St. (Horton and Ridout)

One of the five lots already faces serious questions.

The floodplain of the Thames River limits development at 199 Ridout St. to the northeast portion of the property, and a large deposit of coal tar has contaminated the soil.

Its potential disqualification would leave three of four remaining lots on the priority list in the Old East Village.

Kevin Morrison, general manager of OEV BIA in the parking lot at 641 Queens Ave., seen on Sept. 16, 2024. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

Morgan told CTV News he didn’t have advanced warning of the locations, “The first time I saw them is when they came forward in the staff report for council's consideration. So I can't comment on exactly why staff chose these [locations].”

The next stage of the process would assess each of the lots for water/sewage capacity, soil contamination, and parking utilization.

Morrison points to open drug use and encampments within the lots at 641 Queens Ave. and 434 Elizabeth St. to explain why they have few cars parked in them.

“This parking lot is underutilized,” he said. “It's underutilized for a reason. It's because we don't have the city support!”

Morrison explained that there has been insufficient enforcement of the council-endorsed encampment strategy since it launched earlier this summer.

“There are some challenges with enforcement of that currently,” the mayor admitted. “But I know our staff are well aware of that and engaging with local businesses in the BIA about the challenges there.”

In early January, Morgan used his strong-mayor powers to direct civic administration to review municipal parking lots for their redevelopment potential and bring a report to council for consideration.

“I think this is done totally wrong, totally wrong,” said Morrison, a former mayor of Goderich before strong-mayor powers existed in Ontario. “He's using his strong mayor powers which he said he would never use when he was running to be the mayor of London.”

The mayor emphasized that the process of evaluating lots is still in the early stages, “The decision we have before us [on Tuesday] isn't the final decision on doing something with the lots. It's a decision whether or not to develop an RFP (Request for Proposals) that would consider what we would do with the lots”

Once the parking lots undergo detailed review, an RFP process would allow developers to bid on the opportunity to partner with city hall on one or more of the sites.

Since the city would be providing the property and potentially housing incentive programs, the expectation is that at least 10 per cent of the units would be affordable housing.

The Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee will consider the report at its meeting on Sept. 17.