Residents in Lakeshore, as well as the town's councillors, continue to push back against the possibility of greenhouse developments in the area.
During Tuesday night's meeting, Ward 6 councillor Linda McKinlay introduced a motion to call on the municipality and the provincial government to opposed large commercial greenhouses as well as requesting that large commercial greenhouses are reclassified as industrial use.
The motion was approved by council, which detailed a number of reasons that the greenhouse developments would not be beneficial to the area including inadequate infrastructure, related to traffic and water, to accommodate the greenhouse industry, light and air pollution that would impact the environment, and insufficient resources to accommodate the greenhouses.
Greenhouse operations are considered by the Ministry Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs as a farm use, so under provincial regulations it would be difficult for the municipality to ban them.
A bylaw banning greenhouse development is set to expire in March of 2023.
Many residents in the area are opposed to the greenhouses being built in the area. A petition was done online where 1,656 individuals signed to oppose the developments.
Multiple public consultations were held throughout Lakeshore as well, where hundreds of residents attended to ask questions and voice their concerns.