LaSalle residents gathered on Tuesday night to take part in and share their concerns with the Howard Bouffard Secondary Plan.
A public meeting took place to share updates on the plan with the public, and to hear comments from residents and agencies on the draft documents related to the plan.
The proposed plan is a roadmap for how the Howard Bouffard area will grow in the future in terms of building locations, future land use, and what kind of nature to protect. The plan anticipates long-term growth of up to a maximum of 29,000 people and jobs combined.
The purpose of the plan is to establish a policy framework to guide new development in Howard Bouffard, and to have a policy that considers transportation, infrastructure, natural heritage, a mix of land uses and housing types, schools, and public parks.
Responses from the public regarding the plan include a need for enhanced public transit, limit the height of buildings, risk of drainage not being sustained, concerns of increased traffic, strain on existing infrastructure, a need for smaller housing types, and preservation of the natural heritage system.
Rachel Mills attended as a delegate and says decisions made now will have a huge impact on LaSalle's biodiversity.
"Trails, forests, wetlands, and greenspaces that provide immense value to both our community and the environment. However, these spaces are fragmented, and without deliberate action now, we will continue to see these further isolated and vulnerable. And this is due to deprioritizing nature and land use planning and development that we've seen up until this point."
John DeMarco attended as a delegate and says some wetlands and flood plains need to be left alone.
"It would also include many existing natural areas, and allow us to reconnect those natural areas. We could call this environmental infrastructure. We should start with this environmental core, this environmental backbone, before we start filling in the houses on our monopoly board."
Meanwhile, Patricia McGorman attended as a delegate and says some of the farming crop land needs to remain in the Town.
"What is also supports are our pollinator species. And I know that people may be not thinking about the butterflies, and the bees, but they do pollinate our crops - our crops that are essential for our survival as well. So when we take out parts of these, we remove those securities from ourselves."
The area of the plan is bounded by Normandy Street to the north, Howard Avenue to the east, Laurier Parkway to the south, and Malden Road to the west to make up of approximately 940 hectares.
Next steps for the plan include reviewing the feedback from the public meeting, and prepare a final Secondary Plan.
The final plan will be presented to council in January 2025 for adoption, and sent to Essex County council for final approval.