These longtime south Windsor residents say they'll move if proposed development goes ahead

A pair of longtime residents of a south Windsor neighbourhood said they're looking at leaving their homes of around 40 years, if a multi-unit residential plan goes ahead.  

Two properties at Casgrain Drive and Cabana Road are the site of a proposed mixed-use development that would include 12 units and a commercial space.

At a Thursday night Zoom public information information meeting, billed as an informal gathering for residents, the owner of the properties, Mamum Chowdury, outlined his ideas for the project. 

According to a leaflet distributed to neighbours, and provided to CBC News by the planner on the project, it includes a commercial development on the first floor, and as many as 12 units on the second and third floors. A parking lot with 45 spaces would also be located next to the properties. 

"I feel sick," said Chiara Tesolim, who lives next door to one of the two lots. 

She said her family built their home on the lot in the early 1980s. 

Now, she said she has cancer — and is worried about the impact of the stress on her health. 

"This is gonna kill me. I'm not kidding. A lot of stress." 

"I don't sleep in the night time because I think, what am I gonna do, you know [at] my age, where am I going to go, what am I going do, right? And then, you know, the value is going to go down a lot. It's just horrible."

The developer declined to comment to CBC News through a planner on the project. 

Gloria Hidi lives across the street from the proposed development.

She said there was no need to build "a neighbourhood within a neighbourhood."

"It's just disgraceful and shocking really that they would take a neighborhood like this and feel there's a need for an apartment building," she said.

"They're thinking like Torontonians."

Hidi said she understands the need for more housing in the city, but said there isn't the right place. 

She suggested Huron Church Line Road, because it already had commercial zoning. 

One resident says mixed-used developments are important for neighbourhoods

But not everyone is against the proposed project. 

Dave Chenier grew up on Casgrain Drive, one of the two streets that would be home to the development.

He still lives in Windsor but not in the neighbourhood, and said developments like these can help residents reduce their carbon footprints with more walkable areas. 

"These kinds of developments, I think, are important for a neighborhood," Chenier said. 

"Now, if we don't start changing the way we design our neighbourhoods and our communities and our cities we're not going to be doing any better." 

Will developments match a neighbourhood?

Dorian Moore, an urban designer and architect at the University of Windsor, said one key consideration when building new developments is showing residents what they will look like. 

"People are concerned that proposals that happen in their neighbourhood won't fit in or be out of scale with their neighbourhood," Moore said. 

He said he's a proponent of medium-scale development — in the range of six to 15 units. 

"Showing how your project fits within the overall neighbourhood is important in trying to get the neighbourhood to support it." 

The city is expected to consider a zoning bylaw amendment for the property, which would be open for public input, however, no timeframe has been given as of yet.

The proposal would then be up for discussion at the development and heritage standing committee stage before moving to council for final consideration.