Cambridge councillor says push to pause development in Preston 'doesn't make sense'

A Cambridge city councillor says she is struggling to understand why city staff wanted to pause building permits and development in Preston area for a year when growth is the ultimate goal.

Coun. Corey Kimpson represents Ward 3, which includes Preston. She told CBC K-W's The Morning Edition that an interim control bylaw was set to be discussed at council last Tuesday. This bylaw would freeze development in an attempt to give city staff time to propose an analysis of changes needed to the area. 

Kimpson only found out about it upon reading the agenda schedule as soon as it was made public. 

"Staff felt that invoking an interim control bylaw would make sense to allow time to get a secondary plan complete, which would help to guide development and growth," she said. 

This bylaw worked in conjunction with the Preston Secondary Plan, a land use study to plan future growth. According to Tuesday's agenda report, Cambridge is projected to grow to a population of 215,000 by 2051. Preston was identified as a "core area, regeneration area and major transit station area."

The problem, Kimpson said, lies in the fact that she doesn't think it was discussed properly. She said Preston residents have told her they're concerned about what pausing development would look like. 

"Given our need for housing in our community, given our need for development in the community, people want to see our downtown cores flourish," she said. "An interim control bylaw, it goes against the housing pledge that we as a council committed to. It just doesn't make sense."

Just last year, the city won a hard fought battle with the Ontario government to be granted over $4 million in funding from a provincial housing project. They had to prove they were building to keep up with a housing development prerequisite. 

If the proposed bylaw were to have passed, it would have applied to the entire Preston area. There would have been some exemptions allowed for residential units and interior renovations to commercial spaces. But Kimpson said that those exemptions wouldn't be enough for business owners in the area she knows are looking to expand. 

"I did hear from a number of developers and they felt it was not a wise move because it also sends a message out that Cambridge doesn't want development and Cambridge isn't hungry to work with people," she said. 

She proposes instead taking development applications on a more case by case basis. That way, if it was approved on its merits, a building permit could still be issued. 

That being said, Kimpson said she is in support of the secondary plan that would help Preston identify its community needs. She just wants to make sure people have a say in what happens in the meantime. 

A public engagement meeting, the "first of many," will take place May 22 in the former RBC building at 637 King St. 

"I would certainly encourage residents of the community to follow along with what's happening," she said.