Looking to sell a unit in their St. Jacobs commercial condo, the owners want a zone change to allow a small fitness centre to operate there. Tuesday night they took the first step with a public planning meeting at Woolwich council.
Arrigo and Francesca Trevisan are seeking site-specific zoning for the property at 1600 King St. N. because the current M-1 industrial designation does not permit a fitness club.
Only one delegate spoke at the meeting: St. Jacobs resident Susan Weber attended to enquire whether the exemption would set a precedent for an entirely separate plan for a ball hockey facility on a nearby piece of land, a project she had opposed at another public meeting last year. Assured there’s no connection between the two, she expressed support for the fitness centre.
Introduced to council in September, the plan submitted by Kincardine OPP officer Brian Ferris calls for a 1,600-square-foot fitness centre, which would feature a variety of training equipment. While not always staffed, the club would be accessible at any time, with members given a code to a keypad to enter the facility.
He operates a similar facility in Lucknow.
His bid was well received by councillors at the time. Recognizing the constraints in the existing zoning, they called on planning staff to conduct a comprehensive review of the zoning bylaws to see if a shift is in order to allow a fitness club on lands zoned as industrial. Given the length of time that could take, the building’s owners have opted for a site-specific zoning to help speed the process, director of planning and engineering Dan Kennaley said at this week’s meeting.
