What’s happening on Kennedy Lane ……
- Preserve a large neighbourhood greenspace? No.
- Extend the existing park with flower gardens, a water feature and seating areas for seniors? Nope.
- Seniors housing with a surrounding greenspace? Not a chance.
- Build a housing complex to make money for the owners, to pay off their $433,000 debt? Yes.
- Would it compliment the neighbourhood and respect public safety? No.
The blind political charge to build more housing will come at the cost of public safety. City staff and Council have approved space for lots of bicycle parking and promise to “monitor” and have “dialogue” about 61 vehicle “storage” spaces allowed. Staff say that the transportation needs of the 200+ new residents can be met by walking, public transit or bicycle. Seriously!! This delusional nonsense is really happening here in Orleans.
More housing is good and much needed – but not when standards for density and safety are being brushed aside. Current reality demonstrates that the 120-160 or more additional vehicles will inevitably spill out onto narrow Kennedy Lane and into nearby streets, frequented often by seniors and small children. Owners of the new electric vehicles will have a very serious problem.
The Queenswood Heights Community Association (OHCA) conducted an informal poll among its members, to gauge support for our appeal to the OLT. It resulted in 71% approval. Once again, it demonstrates that area residents oppose this oversized housing project.
An action committee and subject experts are now crafting an appeal, to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT). These are very difficult because the process appears very much bias in favour of affluent land owners. At the same time, the action committee is continuing to attempt a dialogue with the owners. We hope they see the necessity of scaling back the development to a more realistic size. That is imperative for us all.
Photo above shows an example of crowded parking situation on nearby River Ridge. A video recorded on Kennedy Lane itself can be viewed by following this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owc2xyMl5kc This video shows the difficulty posed by narrow Kennedy Lane for an ordinary truck Truck May 2.mp4