Despite pushback from neighbours, city council is greenlighting development that will see 26 new homes built near Pillette Village.
On Monday night, Windsor councillors approved a zoning amendment that allows 10 new single-detached and eight semi-detached homes to be built on the site of the former Our Lady of Lourdes school.
The eight semi-detached homes would create 16 housing units in a neighbourhood that is dominated by single family homes.
The new homes will go up in the area of Franklin St., Rossini Blvd. and Tourangeau Rd.
The approved plans include lots larger than the required standard both for the single-detached and semi-detached homes.
Nieghbourhood resident Dorothy Hooper pushed council to reject the planned development.
"We should not have to live in an area riddled with the overcrowding that will come from townhouses simply because a school was torn down in our area," says Hooper.
Ward 5 residents bringing their concerns to city council over housing development planned for former Our Lady of Lourdes school site on east side #cklw pic.twitter.com/c26IAjpVMs
— Ricardo Veneza (@RicardoVeneza) February 27, 2018
Beth Storey is the third generation of her family to live in the same home in the neighbourhood and says it's going to be a sad day when she looks out across the street to see the new homes.
"It's going to be awful actually because what I'll do is look out my kitchen window and I'll see townhouse upon townhouse and then behind me there will also be townhouse upon townhouse. Where I used to see openness, I'm not going to see concrete," says Storey.
Before construction can begin, the city needs to receive a servicing study to ensure the new homes won't add undue stress to the sewer system.
City Engineer Mark Winterton told council the recently updated separated sewer system would more than likely be able to handle the strain of the new homes stressing the former school had upward of 200 students and teachers compared to the 26 homes the approved plan includes.