A member of the Development and Heritage Standing Committee says he's pleased to see over 750 new dwelling units approved in his ward, but there are some concerns.
Angelo Marignani, member of the committee and the ward 7 councillor, says while he's happy these dwellings will help with the housing crisis locally, he has a lot of worry with flooding, traffic, and quality of life for those around these new builds.
During the meeting on Monday afternoon, two developments were approved by the committee.
The first would see two 11-storey dwellings with 308 units total off Clairview Avenue between Riverside Drive and Wyandotte Street. Marignani opposed this development as he didn't feel the report fully addressed all issues.
The second would be three six-storey, and two 12-storey dwellings for a total of 447 units on Wyandotte Street at Clover Street, which he approved.
During the meeting administration stated that they were confident that the retention ponds are adequate to support both developments.
Marignani says he's heard concern from residents as the development on Clairview Avenue will be right next to the Ganatchio Trail.
"Part of the Ganatchio Trail is going to be in shadow for the bulk of the day because the shadow will actually follow the trail, it'll be on the south side. It was nice to see that this wasn't directly affecting anyone, which I think was a smart strategy."
He says he's concerned about flooding and stormwater management in both locations.
"I walked by those areas, I actually checked them out, they're flooded. They're currently flooded. So what are we going to do? So we have the retention ponds that are used to mitigate the storm water control. Are they going to hold up? What about the 100-year storm?"
Marignani says the Wyandotte dwelling is only a small part to what the developer has in store for that area.
"I think there's, in total, close to 10 phases of this Ontario Limited company that will be employed, that are currently being employed. In the next 10 years, this area of Windsor - the Banwell Corridor - will have the highest concentration of residents in the City of Windsor."
The Clairview Avenue development is expected to have nearly 375 parking spaces, with one-storey of underground parking proposed plus surface parking.
All of the developments will need final approval from city council at a later date.