Should parts of a city park be sold for Windsor housing development? East-end councillor explores idea

Kinsmen Norman Road Park in Windsor's east end dates back to the 1950s — but that doesn't mean a part of it can't be sold to housing developers, suggests Ward 8 Coun. Gary Kaschak.

The city councillor has recently been going public with his idea that the municipality sell a portion of the small neighbourhood park for conversion into residential lots.

"Not everybody's going to be on board with this, probably — but there are 206 parks in Windsor," Kaschak said.

"So I think to downsize a park a little bit... This was an area that was never really used that much."

In Kaschak's vision, the south end of Norman Road Park could be devoted to perhaps six lots for single-family dwellings, reducing the park's current size by about 20 per cent.

"I think that'd be comparable and compatible (with the neighbourhood)," Kaschak said. "But you never know what a developer has to say... We don't want to over-densify."

Norman Road Park was first established in 1954. There are larger and better-equipped parks nearby: Polonia Park is only a block away, while AKO Park and the Ford Test Track are within walking distance.

Despite the nearness of those other parks, Kaschak said he knows there are ward residents who value Norman Road Park. Indeed, he said, there was plenty of positive feedback when he devoted ward funds to adding soccer nets to the space.

But Kaschak feels his idea could lead to overall enhancement of the park and the neighbourhood — not diminishment. "If we were to sell at the high end — six lots at $250,000 each — that'd be $1.5 million."

"My Parks and Recreation people tell me we could put in a walking track, a basketball court, a little bit of a soccer pitch... and still have a surplus, in this tough year of property tax increases that we're facing."

Dorian Moore, who teaches urban design and the built environment at the University of Windsor, feels the devil will be in the details: How will what's planned impact the neighbourhood around it? What precedent will it set?

"I think these things, more than we like to admit, come down to the actual design or layout that's going to be proposed," Moore said.

Moore acknowledges Windsor's housing crisis "warrants some creative solutions."

But he feels the municipality should be focusing on larger vacant properties and infill opportunities before turning to ideas that could transform neighbourhoods at the house-by-house level.

"What happens with each of these decisions, if they aren't made correctly, is what I call 'death by a thousand cuts,'" Moore said.

"You say, 'Oh, in this case, it won't be bad.' And then, the next thing you know, you've degraded the individual communities by a little bit each. When you add it up, the city loses."

Kaschak said his idea is still in its very early stages. He's had some informal conversations with the mayor about it, and he brought it up at the annual Ward 8 meeting on Monday night — but nothing has been put before the city's standing committee on development and heritage, nor has anything been said at city council.

As for the risk of setting a precedent of sacrificing park space for housing, Kaschak notes that his idea isn't untried: Within the past decade, Long Park in Ward 5 has undergone changes and reductions. 

"They shifted a few things around there with a school and the fire hall," Kaschak said. "They're building houses there right now."

Kaschak plans on holding a public input session on his idea sometime before the end of the year. "The next step would be to get some renderings."

The councillor compares his idea with Housing Solutions Made For Windsor — the plan launched earlier this year that announced the city's intentions to sell major municipally owned properties for housing development, such as the former W.D. Lowe High School and Windsor Arena.

"Those are big initiatives, large scale. We're looking for expressions of interest," Kaschak said. "But this (park) is something that, when I got re-elected in 2022, I wanted to make a priority."