The Town of Tecumseh has once again heard from residents regarding concerns of zoning for four units as-of-right.
Council held a public meeting on Monday evening to hear from residents who still have concerns over Initiative 1 of the Housing Accelerator Fund, which would permit up to four dwelling units as part of all low density residential districts in the Town.
Council heard from a handful of individuals who expressed similar concerns to this initiative, such as the impact on traffic and parking, flooding, a strain on existing infrastructure such as water use and sanitary sewer capacity, among other concerns.
This approval means that each lot will be able to allow three additional residential units (ARUs) with a single detached dwelling - permitting up to a total combined four units.
Homeowners will not be able to build four units in areas without full municipal water and wastewater systems, or within any floodprone areas. Approximately 1,900 lots are fully excluded from all options due to their location in floodprone areas.
There are four options that will be presented to council for allowing ARUs based on lot size. Option A requires a minimum 24.4 meters frontage, Option B needs 18.0 meters, Option C allows ARUs on all lots with 30 per cent landscaping, and Option D follows the zone's landscaping requirement.
Tecumseh resident Monica Brotto says this will affect everyone in the Town.
"This type of initiative I think pulls the rug out from people who reside here already, who have lived here for 10, 20, 30 years, because you are changing the cards on the table, basically, because they came here to live in a single family home environment and that's what they should have. You can't change those rules in the middle of the game."
Brotto says there are other ways to accommodate growth.
"We do have several apartment buildings here, condo buildings that have gone up, townhomes, there are things happening. I think our big issue is having this happen in established neighbourhoods, and it makes all the sense in the world to do this in new developments where you can plan for duplexes, triplexes, multi-family, single family."
Resident George Jraige says all the reasons for his family choosing to live in Tecumseh will be wiped out if this initiative is approved.
"When we came, this is what our community looks like, this is what we love, and then when you change it - I'm already committed. I'm invested. You've tanked my property value, and I have no choice but to leave. And I'm going to take a loss, and I'm going to feel like I've been betrayed by my own community.")
Elaine Jraige attended as a delegate and says she's seen these ARUs in other municipalities, and they don't work.
"So there's a family on the top, there's a family on the bottom, and there's an ADU in the back, now what's happening is that the street is congested and you have kids running around, and kids almost got hit by cars because there wasn't enough parking space, there wasn't enough greenspace for the kids to play. How could you raise a family in a multi-unit home?"
Tecumseh mayor Gary McNamara says he understands there is fear of the unknown.
"At the end of the day it's the property owner that makes the decisions, not the municipality - they just give them the right to be able to do it certainly in that regards. And even with the property the last three, maybe four years, when it was three units as-of-right from the province and that, we can count on one hand the units that have been done."
McNamara says growth in population is happening everywhere.
"It's happening in Lakeshore, it's happening in LaSalle, it's happening in Chatham-Kent, London, it's across the country. We could try to find excuses why, but that doesn't settle the problem. So we have to look at ways and means, and listen, this is not the silver bullet that's going to solve all of our problems, but it's an option."
Council will be presented all of the final information at the July 22 meeting where a decision will be made on Initiative 1. The decision on the zoning change needs to be made by July 25 according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
CMHC had previously stated that this initiative was crucial for obtaining $3.2-million of the total $4.4-million HAF funding.
Should council not proceed with HAF Initiative 1, the Town risks losing the remaining $3.2-million as CMHC may view the change in direction as a breach of the HAF agreement. A 4.15 per cent increase to the general tax levy would be required to generate the Town's share of this funding shortfall in relation to earmarked capital projects.