Summerside council votes to rezone property despite residents' objections

Summersidecouncil voted in favour of rezoning a property at Monday night's meetingdespite objections from local residents.

The property is located at the corner of Briggs Street and West Drive.The subdivision was developed years ago for single-family homes, then last year the zoning changed to R2 allowing for duplexes.

Coun.Bruce MacDougall saidtherezoning would now allow for an R3 designation, meaning a four-unit row house could be built.

He said residents voiced theirconcerns and even presented a petition to council.

"They just don't want the start of an R3 in that area," MacDougall said.

"Theirthought is if youallow one, why wouldn't we approve the rest of the lots availablethat's their fear."

At the end of the day housing is needed. That's why we voted the way we did. Coun. Justin Doiron

Toby MacDonald has lived in the neighbourhood for more than 22 years and organized the petition.

"The 59 that are on our petition are absolutely not opposed to development," she said.

"We would love to see the land developed within the bylaw as it stands right now which is R2, because the majority of the subdivision is an R1 and R2and we would like to see that consistency remain."

'On the fence for a long time'

MacDougall said residents were also worried about increased traffic and the development negatively impacting their property values.

He was one of the council members that voted against the project but said he understoodwhy others voted for it.

"The result was 6-2 in favour," he said.

"There's a housing crisis in our city. There's a housing crisis in this province. And I believe that most of them had that thought in their minds when they were deciding which way they were going tovote on this."

Coun.JustinDoiron voted for the project but said it wasn't an easy decision.

"I know I'm not the only one, but I was on the fence for a long time weighing my options," he said.

"At the end of the day housing is needed. That's why we voted the way we did."

Doiron said this could set a precedent for future development in the area, but said every case is different.

"In this instance, everything fell into place as far as our city planand our need for growth."

Doiron said now that the rezoning has been voted on, there is a 21-day period for residents to appeal the decision toIRAC and then the province will havefinal say on the project's approval.

More P.E.I. news