‘Is it going to cause us problems down the road?’

CALEDONIA - A potential move to rezone the core area of Caledonia has raised some concerns from residents.
The Region of Queens is considering rezoning the are from general residential (R2) to highway commercial (C2), and as part of that, held a meeting at the North Queens Business Centre and Innovation Hub.
Mayor David Dagley told the dozen people who attended the meeting that he and other representatives from the region were on hand to hear their concerns.
Dagley said businesses in Caledonia’s core provide important goods and services to people in North Queens.
The idea behind changing the zoning is to simplify the process of developing new businesses and therefore to help motivate the local economy, added Dagley.
“It’s the intention that these amendments would formally recognize all the residential dwellings within that commercial zone, which would essentially allow them to continue to exist,” said the region's planner, Mike MacLeod.
The residential dwellings wouldn’t be impacted if the rezoning were to happen.
Benson Frail asked the councillors and Region of Queens staff who were on hand what types of businesses would be able to set up and whether there would be any noise limitations. Frail said he thought it would be best for the zoning to stay as general residential and readdress it later if necessary.
“I’m not against development, believe me, and I’m not against prosperity by any means,” said Frail. “We’ve got a nice place here, and I think we need a happy balance. I’m just raising the question that if we do rezone, is it going to cause us problems down the road?”
Dagley said the question was a fair one.
“Council supports the growth that would be supportive of the residential area next to it, and it’s going to be a challenge no matter which way we go,” said the mayor.
He said there would need to be careful screening.
Also representing the Region of Queens Municipality at the meeting were District 1 Coun. Kevin Muise, District 5 Coun. Jack Fancy, Deputy Mayor Susan MacLeod, District 3 Coun. Brian Fralic and Dist. 2 Coun. Heather Kelly.
The subject of the rezoning of Caledonia’s core area was scheduled to be part of the discussion at the regular council meeting Oct. 10. Visit TheAdvance.ca for further updates.