Ile-des-Chenes resident Cindy Neil has some concerns with the recently approved development plan for IDC south. Unfortunately for Neil, council didn’t get to hear her objections until it was too late.

On October 4, Neil finally got her moment at the council podium, speaking to a group of council members who were all attending via live remote access.

She opened with her frustration at having missed the September 24 public meeting because of a livestream link that was not available to her on the RM website that night.

“I find that it was fundamentally wrong for [the IDC development proposal] to be passed when I was unable to attend a meeting that I did want to have a voice in,” Neil told council.

The RM’s assistant CAO, Dominique Lemoine, was the only party besides Neil in the council chambers on October 4. Addressing both Neil and the virtual council, Lemoine said that she’d followed up on Neil’s claim of the livestream link being missing during the previous public meeting.

According to Lemoine, the municipality’s website developer was able to identify a glitch in the system for a brief period of time at the outset of the meeting. The fact that others were able attend the September 24 meeting via livestream feed suggests that the link must have been visible to some virtual attendees that night. The developer was unable to offer any explanation for the temporary glitch.

Despite the fact that the IDC south development plan had already passed a council vote, Neil requested an opportunity to share her concerns, hopeful that council would provide accountability to the developers as the project gets underway.

“I am truly in love with my community… and I want the best for it,” Neil told council. “That’s my only agenda here.”

Neil admitted that she wasn’t opposed to the development as a whole. Like other residents who shared their concerns on September 24, though, she queried whether the small lot sizes would fit with the community’s ideals.

As well, she expressed concerns that parking will inevitably spill onto the streets in areas where smaller lot sizes were being proposed. According to Neil, this was already a problem in the IDC condo communities.

“The driveways should be at minimum double-wide,” she says. “Once you have single driveways, people are always going to be parking on the street just for the convenience.”

Finally, Neil prompted council to push the developer for affordable housing options so the community’s young adults and seniors aren’t forced to leave.

“I also love Ile-des-Chenes,” said Councillor Shane Pelletier in response to Neil. “We’ve discussed this before many times. I have no problem with the condos in town. Those are currently the only options for our kids and our elders. I have no problem with smaller lots because you need a range of housing. Our kids aren’t going to be able to afford an RG8 lot with a $600,000 house on it. I truly feel like I am looking out for the best interests of Ile-des-Chenes and I have no issues with this development as it is.”

Councillor Curtis Claydon acknowledged Neil’s frustration over missing the original meeting and suggested that, in future, she and other residents consider submitting an email or letter to council prior to a public hearing. This would ensure that their concerns are heard and read into the public record, regardless of their ability to attend.