A City of Windsor committee has denied an application for a commercial development on Dougall Avenue.
The proposal called for the demolition of two residential properties at the intersection of Roseland Drive East to make way for several commercial units and a parking lot.
Chair of the Development and Heritage Standing Committee Rino Bortolin says city administration recommended turning down the plan for a number of reasons including the need for more residential units and the fact there's plenty of commercial space sitting empty across the city.
He says Windsor is in the middle of a housing crisis.
"We are, every single meeting, hoping for as many units as possible. We are begging other levels of government for more money for infrastructure for more units," says Bortolin. "Thousands of people are on waiting lists, hundreds of people are sleeping on the streets and this is taking away two units from that system."
He says the community does not need more commercial properties right now.
"There is no justification for more commercial in that area. We can put a McDonald's in the middle of Roseland and it will sell millions of dollars of burgers. It doesn't justify the location. We have dozens of buildings in this community that sit vacant. So when we're talking about the commercial availability, they are there," he says.
Bortolin says nearby residents don't want the development either.
"From a policy perspective, this doesn't fit. From a residents input perspective, we've seen that everybody has come out against. Then when you actually take the fact that we are in the middle of a housing crisis and we're even having this debate of removing two units, then it just all falls apart right there," he adds.
The report before the committee states the, "development does not take into account the residential nature of the surrounding area," adding the applicant, "submitted no evidence of the high demand for neighbourhood commercial uses in the subject area."
The plan will go before city council for further discussion at at future meeting.