Neighbour maintains opposition to apartment

The following letter is a response to the letter by John Brunke posted in Cramahe Now on October 27.


Open letter to council township of Cramahe;

After reading the open letter to the neighbours, I for one am not in agreement that we should roll over and play dead.

We as residents of this community have the democratic right to disagree with a business decision being made by two people, namely the owner of the land and the builder.

When a proposal is made to rezone land, to build a two story apartment building in a residential neighbourhood, consisting of single story dwellings, I for one question the motives behind the proposal.

There already is an R3 zoning across from this specific property, and are we to believe, that we have such a need for more rental property in Colborne? Personally I do not think that the need is there.

After speaking to many residents in the affected neighbourhood, the general consensus seems to be that the people are not against progress, or not in my back yard, but trying to keep a neighbourhood consistent with what is already in place.

I realize that the builder and land owner are perfectly within their rights to request a zoning change, but the residents of Cramahe township are perfectly within their rights to object to that change. This has nothing to do with, “NOT IN MY BACKYARD” but more in complimenting the surrounding area and neighbourhood, which a two story apartment building does not.

The provincial government proposed a growth plan, but their manderins do not live here,” WE DO”. Most of the staff in the front office at townhall, do not live here, nor do the planning consultants that the township hires and pays for with our tax dollars.

Growth is an important part of any community, but I do not think that it should be done at the expense of a neighbourhood. I urge everyone to send a letter to council stating your position regarding the zoning change for the property at the corner of Arthur and Victoria streets in the village of Colborne, part of lots 8, 9 and 10. Part 1, plan 38R-1099.

A democracy only works if the people get of their butts and voice their opinions.

Yours truly
John Ton