Council should support Northdale rezoning

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A collective effort to solve the perennial housing and development problem in Northdale is being impeded by the needless bureaucratic layers of Waterlooโ€™s municipal government.

Here are 39 homeowners willing to sell, developers looking to buy and council refuses to expedite the rezoning process so the land is a viable property for the potential buyers.

Instead, the city council is engaging in studies of the Northdale neighourhood โ€” something this municipal government has been doing for years now without much to show for it. Now that you have homeowners who are all on the same page โ€” finally โ€” it would be in everyoneโ€™s best interest to act on it.
Councilโ€™s concern in moving ahead is understandable. They appreciate the need for the correct processes to be followed and for the right permits to be issued.

They need a plan to be in place and not just have land sold to another developer that wants to build more cheap housing.

Yet, if the whole point is to make Northdale a more diverse neighbourhood made up of more than derelict student housing, then council needs to cede the point that residential zoning just doesnโ€™t cut it and work towards a solution that suits all stakeholders.

The municipal government has 120 days to issue a decision on rezoning. It would be wise to show students (and the rest of the community) that they actually care about this issue; that they donโ€™t want to throw it down the road to be dealt with later.

Council should vote strongly in favour of the rezoning as a step toward a renewed Northdale neighbourhood. Itโ€™s time to go where other councils have failed. Itโ€™s time for a Northdale solution that is actually put into action instead of just talked about and endlessly debated.

Rezoning should be considered as a first step and council should take prompt action in the interest of moving forward.

โ€”The Cord Editorial Board


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