The following petition was first sent to all City of Guelph Councillors and Mayor Karen Farbridge on May 5, 2014.
I have submitted additional names since then, and I will resend the petition on a regular basis as more residents add their names to voice their support.
Commercial Land in Guelph's East End
The lack of commercial services in Guelph’s east end has been a long-standing issue for many Ward 1 residents, and particularly for those living east of Victoria Road.
This problem can largely be attributed to a flawed municipal planning process in this area, namely the incremental rezoning of commercial land to residential land, and the lack of mixed-use zoning which allows for residential and commercial properties to be built within the same neighbourhood.
We are aware of a third application for a housing development in the area of Watson Road and Watson Parkway, which would require rezoning of a portion of what little commercial land is left for more residential development.* Guelph City Council has been hoping for years that Loblaws will finally open a grocery store east of Victoria Road, if only we keep adding more residential development to the area. Instead, Loblaws has built a new, bigger Zehrs on Eramosa Road.
Speculating about a specific private company's future plans is not how municipal planning should be conducted.
By removing commercial land from the east end, we are further narrowing our options for obtaining commercial services in the neighbourhood. We don't need more residential housing, we need shops, doctors’ offices, restaurants and cafés; places that we can walk to and that can bring vibrancy to the east end. We call on Guelph City Council to reject the proposal to rezone the property at 144 Watson Road North for residential development.
* ”More high and medium density housing proposals for Guelph’s east end could finally attract a grocery store”, Guelph Mercury, April 15, 2014.
If you would like to add your support to this petition, please send me your name and full address to :
karolynepickett@gmail.com
O, you can fill out the form on my home page. Thanks!
