BEACONSFIELD – Lorne Smith lives next door to The Club West Island, but the land will soon turn into about 150 residential units.
Smith said he and a few of his neighbours have an issue with the project.
“Next thing you know, a new developer comes in and he says ‘I can build four-storeys here, never mind the townhouses, I’ll build four storeys,'” he said.
To voice his opinion, Smith said he will be attending public hearings, where a new advisory committee on land use, planning and development, has been set up.
The aim is for the city to listen to people, like Smith, who have something to say about proposed projects in the city.
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“I think it’s a great idea to actually come to a conclusion on where you want Beaconsfield to go,” he said.
Former Beaconsfield mayor and one of the ten committee members, Bob Benedetti, said the new advisory committee is a great way to consult residents.
“What we’re going to try to do with this committee is to find out from the citizens what they want,” he said.
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“Maybe they want Beaconsfield to stay the way it is.”
Benedetti said the hearings may be a way to help prevent housing projects from failing – like the 22-townhouse project the city wanted to build on the commercial land on Beaurepaire and Prarie Dr.
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“I think that if we do things this way, we’re going to see fewer situations of things like this where people say they haven’t been consulted, ‘we don’t know what it is, we don’t like it and go away,'” he told Global News.
The advisory committee is encouraging all Beaconsfield residents to take part in the public hearings, saying it’s an opportunity to be involved in the city.
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