Greater Sudbury city council changes its mind on Azilda property that was earmarked for housing

Citing "significant opposition," Greater Sudbury city councillors have voted to hold onto some vacant property instead of opening it up for housing development.

On Tuesday night, city council voted in 9-3 favour of a motion to reconsider putting a piece of vacant land into the city's Affordable Housing Land Bank. 

The piece of land in question is a city-owned vacant plot in Azilda, near the Lionel E. Lalonde Centre. Last year, councillors voted unanimously to mark the land for future affordable housing. 

"Nobody on this council has been more pro-housing and development than me and I'm sure the irony of my motion is not lost on anyone," councillor Pauline Fortin said at the meeting.

"This situation is quite different than anything that this council or any council has considered before."

Fortin said she's heard from many constituents who don't want to see the land developed. 

"This is city-owned land which makes it in my opinion, community-owned owned property. And the community is saying no to this development. Some of this is NIMBYism for sure, but I have been hearing from residents all over," she said.

'Opportunity to reconsider'

Greater Sudbury city councillor Mark Signoretti said he agreed with having a second look.

"I look at decisions that we have all made and sometimes, we look at those decisions and say, '?You know what? Maybe I didn't do my due diligence,'" he said.

"Maybe whether there's public outcry or public concern, there's an opportunity to reconsider."

However, Councillor Deb McIntosh said she wasn't in favour of reconsidering the status of the land. She pointed out to a past example in her ward, where the city gave a piece of land to a non-profit seniors housing corporation.

"On this site now stands a five-storey apartment building with affordable rents," she said.

"The non-profit started down this path so that Conistonians could sell their homes and continue to live in the community."

She said the city needs to make tough decisions with it comes to housing.

"We need more homes," McIntosh said.

"Our mayor has set the goal of increasing our population to 200,000 people. These people need places to live. We have people now how need places to live, kids living in our basements that need places to live that want to move out on their own."