Marotta subdivision in Niagara on the Lake would be two or three times as dense as most adjacent neighbourhoods: June 28, 2021 post at SORE website

For some years I’ve been following land use issues in Niagara on the Lake west of Toronto.

Click here for previous posts about Rand Estate >

SORE is a community organization; SORE is an acronym for Save Our Rand Estate.

Rear of the Rand Estate at 588 Charlotte, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Nov. 1, 2018. Source: Nov. 12, 2018 SORE article.

A June 28, 2021 article at the SORE website is entitled: “Marotta subdivision would be two or three times as dense as most adjacent neighbourhoods.”

The focus on quantification is noteworthy.

A June 16, 2021 SORE article is entitled: “SORE comments on June 15 Open House.”

Rear of the Rand Estate at 588 Charlotte, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Nov. 12, 2018. Source: Nov. 12, 2018 SORE article.

An excerpt (I have added paragraph breaks) reads:

The evening illustrated the extreme challenges of conducting public consultations by video. It was a pale substitute for the open house on the Marotta hotel/convention centre at the Community Centre in January of 2018 that attracted upwards of 800 people.

Video links are subject to various inevitable malfunctions, present barriers to maintaining focus, deprive the attendees of the opportunity to assess credibility in person and do not provide for a clear expression of collective input.

We have, in addition, heard from many of our supporters of various challenges registering for this open house and that some residents lacked the technology to ask questions using the format selected by the Town. We continue to encourage Council and the Town to try find a more effective way to conduct the upcoming statutory public meeting if possible. This is simply too important to continue to do this way.

Comments regarding June 15, 2021 Open House in Niagara on the Lake

I attended the June 15, 2021 online open house which used a non-Zoom platform. Many people were unable to get video to function when they had the opportunity to speak. I’ve attended many online Zoom events in which participants have been able to get the video function to work. Clearly, it would be a real plus if online public meetings in Niagara on the Lake were conducted under conditions where the video links work properly.

I found the comments that various people made at the June 15th open house of much interest.

As an observer, what stayed in mind – for me in particular – was the discussion about whether some trees would or would not be saved.

An official responding to questions from residents appeared to me to leave plenty of wiggle room through repeated references to the fact that in so many words, “efforts would be made” to save some trees.

Click here for previous posts about Rand Estate >