Give us time to all agree on the Tivoli project: councillor

City planners have recommended against a major downtown condo tower project, but the matter has been deferred until the end of the month so the local councillor can try to iron out" some of the issues.

Councillors will vote on the 22-storey Tivoli condo project on March 31, rather than Tuesday, because Coun. Jason Farr wants to do further community consultation to forge more agreement between the developer, city staff and the neighbourhood.

Farr, a Ward 2 councillor, says he just wants a few more weeks to engage to a greater extent. It also gives city staff time to sit down and iron out some of the issues with Diamante Investments, developers of the Tivoli project.

Its a little bit of breathing room until March 31, he said.

The deferral is OK. Itll give them time to think about it.- DomenicDiamante

The city planning committee was scheduled to hold a public meeting on Tuesday about the Tivoli, a planned condo tower that encompasses 108 James St. N. and 111 and 115 Hughson St. N. in the downtown core.

The plan is to turn the historic theatre into a mixed-use high rise that would include 106 condos, the restoredtheatre, commercial space, as well as 17 surface and 52 stacked parking spaces.

City planners recommended denying the necessary rezoning to allow the project, saying the tower isout of character with the neighbourhood. It would also represent an over-intensification of a mid-block site and set an unsuitable precedent for the design of tall buildings within downtown Hamilton.

The current zoning is downtown prime retail streets, downtown mixed use and downtown multiple residential to a modified downtown prime retail streets designation.

Domenic Diamante said hes open to meeting with planners and community members over the next month.

What about the old theatre?

The deferral is OK, he said. Itll give them time to think about it.

'Were in favour ofaproject. Were in favour of the redevelopment of the site. But this project in its current form is not something were supporting.'- Allison Chewter, Beasley Neighbourhood Association

If council rejects the proposal, he said, hell take it to the Ontario Municipal Board. The 22 stories are necessary, he said, for the project to be profitable.

Allison Chewter, co-chair of the Beasley Neighbourhood Association's planning and development subcommittee, wanted a deferral too. The association believes the tower is incompatible with the neighbourhood, she said. It also doesn't like that the project adds more surface parking and doesn't include plans to incorporate the historic theatre.

"Were in favour of a project," she said. "Were in favour of the redevelopment of the site. But this project in its current form is not something were supporting."

The Tivoli is just the latest in a series of condo plans for Hamiltons downtown. Sales have started for a proposed 30-storey condo tower, The Connolly, on the site of the former James Street Baptist Church. That development will also be mixed use and have a car stacker, and will be the third tallest building in Hamilton.

Background of the Tivoli Theatre:

The Tivoli Theatre is 140 years old. Diamante Holdings, owned by Domenic Diamante,bought the theatre for $900,000 last February. He purchased it from the Canadian Ballet Youth Ensemble (CBYE), whose CEO isBelma Diamante, Domenic's wife.

The CBYE bought the theatre in 2004 from the Sniderman family, of Sam the Record Man fame, for $2. In June of that year, while the Snidermans still owned the Tivoli, a south-facing wall collapsed inside the building, pushing debris through an exterior wall.

The last time the Tivoli was in use was between 1998 and 2004, when the Snidermans rented the Tivoli to a local theatre company, the Tivoli Renaissance Project.

Later in 2004, the city spent $300,000 to demolish the front portion of the building, which included the original facade that faced James Street North, as well as the long lobby leading into the theatre and the washrooms.

The city granted the CBYE $75,455 in 2009 for building stabilization and heating improvements. It also gave the owners $20,000 in 2008 for a heritage feasibility study to identify potential uses for the property and gauge community interest in the building's restoration.City council also approved a $50,000 interest-free loan since repaidto retrofit the theatre's roof in December 2009.

samantha.craggs@cbc.ca | @SamCraggsCBC