Nelson St. park won’t be rezoned

To the applause of dozens of local residents in the gallery at the Civic Centre, council voted 4-3 last night in favour of maintaining the Nelson Street park as “green space” and not rezoning it from “open space” to “residential type two (R2).”
The vote came after a lengthy list of delegates spoke against the rezoning, citing a myriad of reasons as to why the park should be saved.
These ranged from the fact that neighbourhood children continue to use it year-round to play to weighing the short-term gain of property sales and a small tax base increase against the loss of valuable “green space” which, once gone, can never return.
Mayor Roy Avis, along with Couns. John Albanese, Ken Perry, and Paul Ryan, voted against the rezoning while Couns. Andrew Halllikas, Sharon Tibbs, and Rick Wiedenhoeft voted for it.
As previously reported, the town had identified the property at the northwest corner of Nelson Street and Williams Avenue as suitable property that was ready to be sold for residential development.
At its March 24 meeting, council voted 4-3 in favour of moving forward with the process to see the Nelson Street property developed into five housing lots.
Those who voted for and against the move were the same as last night, with the exception of Mayor Avis, who had voted for the rezoning process to move forward last month.
But a group of local residents, who also opposed the redevelopment of the property back in 2004 (and some even before that), have been opposing the rezoning over the past couple months.
They also circulated a petition, signed by some 760 people (some local taxpayers, some not) against the proposed rezoning, which was presented to council at last night’s meeting.
Last week, the committee of adjustment, acting in an advisory role to town council, also voted unanimously against the rezoning. This point also was reinforced at last night’s meeting.
Had council voted in favour of rezoning the property, the residents would have had the option of appealing the decision to the Ontario Municipal Board, which, in turn, would rule either to uphold or overrule council’s decision.