Councillors in Lakeshore will be considering a partnership with the University of Windsor's Centre for Cities at an upcoming meeting.
At their last meeting on August 13, council directed administration to bring back a report on the development of a formal partnership.
The goal of the potential partnership would be the creation and implementation of a Housing Production Systems Approach, which is a comprehensive and community-centric approach where residents would be engaged in a bottom-up process to determine how Lakeshore's housing sector develops.
Feedback from residents would be incorporated into Lakeshore's Official Plan and Zoning By-law.
Mayor Tracey Bailey says this initiative will make it easier for builders to build by cutting red tape while ensuring communities develop in ways that reflect what residents want.
She has been meeting with representatives from the Centre for Cities for a while now, and believes it's an exciting prospect for the town.
"Council got an opportunity to learn a little bit about what the system approach looks like and the opportunities we have to really change how development is done in Lakeshore. To really flip it on its head and start doing our processes differently," Bailey said.
Bailey says they have some excellent opportunities to work together to really involve residents in the planning process through really intentional development.
"When we talk about development we're typically reactive instead of proactive. We're always kind of in the defence of development, things come about a bit like a secret. You know, a McDonalds is coming and it starts with a bit of a rumour, with folks in coffee shops wondering about it. We really want to change that, we want to begin right at the beginning of the planning process."
Bailey wants to see Lakeshore leading the way in improved planning processes throughout the region to better serve their residents.
That means residents knowing what a development is, what it would look like, and having them involved to be able to say whether something fits in a certain area or that infrastructure matches with an area through transit access or things like that.
"So we have tons of really exciting opportunities to have a sign that's sitting on a parcel of land where it says 'Future Home of HomeSense and Winners'. And addressing all of the resident concerns up front so it becomes a little bit more exciting as opposed to something that everybody's kind of concerned about," she said.
The memorandum of understanding, which will be presented to council for approval at a future meeting, would be the first of its kind in the region.
The Centre for Cities at Windsor Law supports collaborative research, teaching and public engagement on the most pressing legal and policy issues for municipalities and local institutions.
Their focus is on the tools for building and maintaining sustainable and inclusive communities.