City council has approved a rezoning application for a housing development in one Windsor neighbourhood despite opposition from home owners over the impact on traffic.
Council voted Monday in favour of approving the development, citing the strong probability of losing an appeal before the Ontario Land Tribunal if council were to deny the application.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says it's very rare that council wins an appeal.
"If you have a positive recommendation from city administration on a planning side and then goes to a development committee and also gives affirmation to that recommendation, by the time it gets to council, unless there's some glaring omission in terms of a planning principle, it's very difficult for the city to win this," he says.
Generation Development Contractors Inc. plans to build a total of four, three-storey townhouses at 3930 and 3950 Sixth Concession Road, right near Ducharme Street.
People living near the proposed development voiced their opposition over what it would do to traffic along the Sixth Concession, citing a lack of sidewalks and additional infrastructure to support existing high volumes of traffic moving through the neighbourhood.
Sixth Concession resident Satvir Sandhu says the volume of traffic is really high on Sixth Concession Road.
"We're not against housing. We're 100 percent not against housing. We were asking to fix the infrastructure before putting extra strain on Sixth Concession Road," she says.
Dilkens calls it a difficult balance especially when it comes to residents asking the city to amplify their voice.
"You know that if you amplify that voice. Ok, you can push off the results for 12 to 18 months while it goes through the appeals process and cost taxpayers $25,000 to $40,000 to hire planners and lawyers to fight that appeal. But if the result is the same at the end of the day, you're not really doing anything to improve the lives of the residents," he says.
"What they've thought about is that they don't have to spend $20,000 going on appeal. That's about it," he says.
Jagrej Sandhu says it's the current state of the infrastructure that's the problem.
"If they would develop the road, make a turning lane, close off the ditch, and have sidewalks on the side, it would be a different thing," he says.
Sixth Concession connects Provincial Road and North Talbot Road, running through the neighbourhood and crossing over Dougall Parkway.
Mayor Dilkens says they know that they have to widen and improve the Sixth Concession, and over time it will be improved.
The development will have a total of 24 units—16 regular units and eight additional dwelling units (ADUs).
ADU's are often described as self-contained residential units with kitchen and bathroom facilities, such as an in-law suite or a basement apartment.
A total of 40 parking spaces would also be part of the development, with 16 garages, 16 spaces in front of the garages, and 8 parallel parking spaces.
The development is near Talbot Trail Public School and First Lutheran Christian Academy.