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FERGUS – Council has deferred its approval of the South Fergus Secondary Plan until they feel it captures the vision and needs previously expressed by residents.
While the township's managing director of planning and development Brett Salmon said he was satisfied the current plan addressed all the public's comments "in one way or another" during a council meeting Monday evening, several councillors said they needed more time to discuss it with staff to ensure they get things right.
Among the concerns shared during the meeting was the ratio of green space to residential units, allowing eight storeys in certain areas and active transportation.
"This is going to be one of the biggest decisions you're going to be making and it's going to really set the tone for where the community goes," said Mayor Shawn Watters, addressing councillors directly during the meeting. "But there will be a time where you will have to make a decision...we need to deal with (this) sooner rather than later."
However, Coun. Jennifer Adams, whose ward would predominantly be affected by the plan, said she felt this is an issue the township can and should take their time on to ensure they get it right.
"I do feel like we keep talking about this pressure from the province and I don't think a municipality of our size is gonna' see Ford driving up and dumping a bunch of money in our communities like he is in others," said Adams. "I think it's really important for us to decide how we want our community to look...(and) to be very careful of how we proceed."
A primary concern for all councillors was the plan's proposal to allow a maximum of eight storeys along the mixed-use corridor planned for Tower Street and Highway 6 and the gateway planned at the Tower Street, Highway 6 and Second Line intersection.
"I'm just not understanding, if we're creating a tunnel effect down Highway 6, how that's getting the vision from what we had discussed in our public meeting," said Coun. Kim Jefferson. "You're saying that you don't want people to come in to see parking lots and things like that but you're not going to see much of anything (if there's) a few buildings of up to eight storeys in height along that one section."
Building on Jefferson's comments, both Adams and Coun. Lisa MacDonald said they were worried about the feasibility of active transportation and safe crossing for residents living along Highway 6, especially in areas where residents feel using a safe crossing point takes longer than "cross(ing) their fingers and hop(ing) the crossing guard has shown up that day."
Adams also shared concerns about the ratio of green space to residents, pointing out that it's "unsettling" to expect "two little neighbourhood park locations" to service 6,000 residential units, as the plan currently suggests.
"I would say that we have heard the comments and made the changes," said Dave Aston, representing MHBC Planning during the meeting. "The document before you this evening reflects comments that were received and we've incorporated those within these documents to the best that we can at the level of these documents."
The issue will return to a committee of the whole meeting in April.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
