The path has been cleared for a large residential development for Whitelaw Road after the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) upheld an appeal by the developer.

Last February, Guelph City Council voted 8-3 to turn down zoning and official plan amendment applications from Armel Corporation which wants to build a 678-unit development on vacant property located at 361 Whitelaw Rd., at the intersection with Paisley Road on the city’s western border.

Armel appealed that decision to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (now the OLT), which ruled in its favour in a decision released Monday.

“The Tribunal has considered all information that the Parties have provided and is satisfied that the scale and built form proposed by the Appellant on the Subject Lands are appropriate for the area and compatible with the existing and evolving context of the area,” said the written ruling by adjudicators Mario Russo and Steven Cooke.

The proposal consists of a total of 678 total residential units with 552 apartment units shared within high-rise buildings ranging in heights from eight to nine storeys, and the mid-rise buildings proposed at five storeys. The additional 124 residential units are stacked and traditional townhouses.

Council went against the recommendation of its own staff last February when it voted against the official plan and zoning bylaw amendments requested by Armel because it felt the proposed development had too many issues with density, traffic, parking and hydrology.

But the OLT decision ruled the concerns of council were being addressed, or would be addressed, in the proposal and that the proposal does not violate the city’s Growth Plan or Official Plan.

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