“It’s also a balancing act in terms of ownership of property, whether owners are residents of the municipality or not and the more houses we have in STAs, the less opportunities there are for long-term tenancies. So that creates another issue in the community from a rental and affordability point of view.”
In other planning matters, Ostrander says while a final decision is still likely months away, public input will begin soon on a proposal to develop a key piece of land on the town’s south shore. Early proposals call for a development of 32 residential units, including seven three-storey quadruplex buildings and another two-storey building near Presqu’ile Yacht Club in the area of Elgin Street East and Price Street.
Ostrander says staff and council are looking for some broad input from the public, the land owners and developer on what should be build in that area.
“There’s a lot of people who are saying this is extremely environmentally sensitive land. We’re also talking about vacant land that has been used by friends and neighbours for some time, so a lot of people have come to think of it as public use, even though it is private land. I think there are going to be a lot of interesting comments that come back from the citizens’ perspective.”
