A city committee has endorsed a major residential development on vacant land near Tecumseh Mall — but with one change.
The proposal calls for five, six-storey buildings with 390 units and 498 parking spaces on 10 acres of land just off Lauzon Parkway.
Members of the Development and Heritage Standing Committee believe more green space needs to be incorporated and have requested fewer parking spaces.
Councillor Chris Holt sits on the committee and says more asphalt leads to more flooding.
"We want to minimize as much of the hard paving as humanly possible. As we know, it's very close to the Little River Corridor, it's very close to existing areas where we have significant flood damage and it's something we've been talking about a very, very long time is minimizing the hardscaping."
Holt sits on the committee and says future tenants should have some green space.
"The people who are moving here deserve the high quality of life that we're demanding in every neighbourhood," he continued. "Regardless of whether you're living or directly abutting Lauzon Parkway or you're just over here outside of Willistead Park, you still deserve a high quality of life."
Holt says there's a need for a development like this.
"This is going to be a very popular choice with people because they have easy access to shopping, to so many different forms of recreation. This is what quality living is all about, is having easy access to that without having to jump in the car and drive everywhere."
Once the developer makes the changes, the proposal will go before city council for final approval.
The vacant land is owned by Europro which also owns Tecumseh Mall.