From bad to worse?

Dear Editor:

A five storey building at 223 St. Andrew St. East? One which will tower over every other building in Fergus, ruin the skyline of our historic little town, provide inadequate parking and only make already-bad traffic problems worse? No, no, no.

I wish to add my voice to the growing numbers of angry residents protesting the proposed bylaw change which will make this building a reality. Why are our concerns being ignored?

Prohibition on buildings of this height were put in place for a reason. It is appalling that they are being craftily overturned in the guise of creating more “affordable” housing - when the truth is, no one on a limited income could afford the rents being proposed for units in this building anyway.

This proposal is - alarmingly - a virtual repeat of another proposal for a five-storey apartment building next to the United Church that is already in the works. So is this going to be the pattern now? Every few months, another greedy developer will come up with a proposal of this kind - and hope that he can get away with it because no one pays attention?

Five-storey buildings do not belong among the lovely heritage properties, commercial and residential, in our downtown. Period.

While I think everyone agrees that there is an urgent need for more rental housing, these buildings should continue to be added to outlying areas of Fergus, where land is cheaper, the units could feasibly be made “affordable” and there would be, most importantly, space for everyone to park.

Candidates in this upcoming election take note. We are watching your reaction to this issue.

Sonia Day, Fergus