A plan for a new affordable housing development in Port Elgin is drawing some questions from residents of the surrounding neighbourhood.
Letters, and a petition have been sent to the municipality citing concerns over things like how the facility will look and if its feasible to fit up to 40 housing units into the area between River, Elgin, Market, and Wellington Streets.
Resident Sunny Cushnie says the area is undersized for the 35 to 40 units that are proposed.
Cushnie says there are also water runoff issues in the area and they are concerned about the impact of extra parking spaces.
Mayor Mike Smith says the municipality intends to make the area into a more residential neighbourhood.
The currently vacant land used to be industrial.
He says they will take the residents concerns seriously as they move into the site plan approval process for the development.
Bruce County Manager of Housing Services Susan Earle says planning staff originally suggested up to 50 units could be built on the land, but the current need is only for 35 to 40.
She says the affordable housing will included a mixture of incomes for people who couldn’t otherwise afford to buy a house in Saugeen Shores but require affordable rental accomadation.
Cushnie believes the town and the county will be able to come up with a solution.
Earle says the proposed development is a great partnership.
The town donated the land, funding is coming from the county and hopefully from the province and federal government, and the private sector.
Bruce County Housing is planning to sell eight bungalow houses it owns in Port Elgin.
The people who live in them will move to the new units once they’re built.
Earle says the project will be an economic boost for the community and hopes construction can begin this fall and be finished a year later.