A Chatham-Kent councillor is not pleased that the municipality has decided against demolishing an affordable housing building in Ridgetown that has been causing community concern.
A motion was approved at Monday night's council meeting to sell the existing building at 11 Cecil St. and use the proceeds to benefit the municipality's affordable housing fund.
Councillor David VanDamme says due to accessibility issues at the Cecil St. building and the old age of the structure, the municipality approved the construction of a new affordable housing dwelling on the same lot at 9 Cecil St. this past spring.
According to VanDamme, it was council's original plan to demolish the older Cecil St. building after the new building was finished. Now, after further review, council has decided to sell the building with the intention of it being re-purposed.
VanDamme says now that an additional public dwelling is being built beside it, residents are complaining of noise and traffic disturbances.
"People on Cecil St. live in a beautiful subdivision, they've become accustomed to one affordable housing unit. They're okay with the old unit being replaced, but to put two commercial-type buildings with two varying situations and a lot more people living on less than one acre -- [it] presents some very inherent challenges," he explains.
VanDamme was visibly upset when the motion passed at council.
"To sit at that table is a privilege and it's an even greater privilege when you can make decisions that help residents... tonight we didn't do that. We failed," says VanDamme.
Councillors at the meeting discussed the possibility of the building being turned into student housing for the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus, however, the new purpose of the dwelling has yet to be determined.