It was standing room only in Tecumseh council chambers Tuesday night.
A special meeting was held for residents to learn more and voice any concerns they had with the four initiatives the town is proposing as part of the federal government's Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF).
The meeting was held as part of Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendments needed to tap into 4.4-million dollars in federal funds to speed construction of 137 housing units over the next three years.
Of the four initiatives discussed, four residential units as-of-right in urban neighbourhoods was the most divisive.
Over 50 people were in attendance of the open meeting, with about a dozen or so residents speaking out against the proposal.
Tamra Teno was concerned that four units as-of-right would change the look and feel of Tecumseh.
"Crowding in all these units, increasing traffic, eliminating green space, and getting rid of trees to build them all, will definitely change things," Teno said. "It'll obliterate the historical charming nature of our town."
Tony Teno implored council to 'stand-up' for its residents.
"Don't allow this initiative to go through, please don't do it, don't ruin Tecumseh," Teno said. "The federal government doesn't care about us. We do. Let us stand with the overwhelming majority of Canadian communities who are refusing to take the government's HAF money, because it just isn't right. This is not right for Tecumseh."
Resident Mark told council that he's lived in the town for 65 years.
"I don't want to have to move, and I deserve it, along with everyone else here, we deserve to have our communities maintained," Mark said.
John Comisso was concerned over the possible influx of vehicles on neighbourhood streets.
"I can't imagine if there's four units there, and they all have four cars, that's 16, cars you're going to add to a neighbourhood, unacceptable," Comisso said.
Resident Jenn said currently there's only eight homes on her street and she does not want to see that balloon to 48.
"I moved out of Windsor because Tecumseh was safe and clean, and it was a great place to raise my family, and quite frankly if these boxes start showing up in my neighbourhood I got to bail to LaSalle and I don't want to," she said.
Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Mayor Gary McNamara said council's responsibility is to look at the bigger picture and opportunities.
"There's 180 other communities in Canada, and a large part of them here," McNamara said. "Some are small community. Lakeshore is now on board, Chatham-Kent is on board. The reality is, is that we have, decisions that we make sometimes are tough decisions. They're really tough, but it's for the greater good of the community."
The meeting was to gather feedback only and no decisions were made.
Council will receive a report for further debate at a later date, but McNamara said he hoped it would be sooner rather than later to deal with the housing crisis.