CORNWALL, P.E.I. - Some Cornwall residents say they’ll fight a rezoning decision through the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission if council approves its second reading next month.
Council unanimously approved the first reading of a bylaw amendment that would see a 10-lot subdivision, located between the Trans-Canada Highway and Lakeview Drive, rezoned from single family residential (R1) to planned unit residential development (PURD) during a meeting Wednesday night.
If the resolution passes a second reading next month, the rezoning would give the go-ahead for the development of multi-unit townhouses on the lots.
That disappointed some residents in the area, who informed council of their intention to appeal the decision following the meeting.
“It was originally approved by the province back in 1972, I believe, as a single family residential subdivision and it shouldn’t be changed,” said resident Ernest Gallant, who is also a former councillor.
Resident Alan Craswell said he was also disappointed in the decision.
“When you buy your property, you don’t expect the zones to change… You buy it because that’s what it’s zoned and that’s what you’re expecting,” said Craswell. “Now they turn around and with the stroke of a pen can change it to satisfy some developer. It isn’t right.”
Craswell said a public meeting held in the summer for feedback saw many residents against the development, citing concerns over increased traffic and loss of green space.
“There was a big turnout and I think 95 per cent of people were against it,”he said.
Gallant said a petition was also circulated to council prior to the meeting with more than 50 signatures from area residents who opposed the rezoning.
Coun. Peter Meggs, who chairs the town’s planning board, said the group considered the town’s official plan in looking at the proposal.
He said good planning principles were also considered, with the townhouses providing a buffer between the single-family residential housing on Lakeview Drive and the new apartment units being built near the Trans-Canada Highway.
“This is good urban planning in terms of transition,” said Meggs. “You’re going from the highest density with the apartments to medium density with the townhouses, to the lowest density with single family.”
PURD allows for a number of options, such as single family residential, semi-detached and townhouse dwellings up to six units.
The resolution, which includes some other amendments such as changing the allowable height of buildings from 35 to 40 feet, will go through a second reading during next month’s meeting.
