The expansion of residential housing and industrial facilities is absolutely critical for maintaining the health of any community. Residential taxes support programs and necessary repair and maintenance of existing infrastructure. Industrial and manufacturing facilities provide needed employment opportunities and a community with a healthy workforce is generally better maintained and secure.
The downtown service providers need new “blood”, new customers to maintain or grow their business and without this, many languish and close.
But, uncontrolled sprawl can be harmful to the community. Purposeful, controlled and considered expansion can be done safely, without the environment or causing undue commotion to existing residents. Here is something you may not know; flooding matters in subdivisions are under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Act, while, flooding matters outside of urban areas are commonly dealt with under Common law. When you pave over a parcel of land, the runoff increases dramatically. So, as an example, an acre of raw land will have a runoff of approximately 33%. Pave the same parcel and the runoff rate increases to about 92%. So, if a parcel of land next to your rural lot is paved, the runoff from the higher parcel will triple, potentially causing your property to flood. The exponential increase in runoff is why it is critical for the town to develop a proper drainage plan for any proposed development.
I believe that we do need more growth, not that I want to live in an Urban jungle, but growth that provides sorely needed tax revenue, jobs, and housing opportunity.
I also believe that we need alternate forms of home ownership…. but that is a more complex issue. I have written the Premier(s) on that point but, just as it takes miles for a long train to stop, it also takes seemingly endless ages for new ideas to take hold.