Via Italia or Erie St. in Windsor.  (Photo by Adelle Loiselle.)Via Italia or Erie St. in Windsor. (Photo by Adelle Loiselle.)
Windsor

CAMPP appeal effort gets another ally

Another local neighbourhood group is expressing support for an appeal of the location of the planned mega-hospital.

The Via Italia Business Improvement Association, which consists of businesses stretching along Erie Street East between Mercer Street and Lincoln Avenue, has contributed $2,500 to the appeal filed by the Citizens for an Accountable Mega-Hospital Planning Process (CAMPP), the group that has been fighting the location of the new hospital near Windsor Airport.

Pietro DiPonio, a spokesman for the Via Italia BIA, said the potential closure of Windsor Regional Hospital's Ouellette campus would have a devastating economic effect on the neighbourhood.

"The proposed closure of two hospitals in our area will have a direct and deeply negative impact on our BIA, the one-hundred-plus businesses we represent, and the surrounding neighbourhoods," said DiPonio. "Restaurants, bakeries, specialty merchants, hair salons, law firms, drug stores, flower shops, and many other businesses located on Erie Street East will lose a significant and regular customer base if the relocation does happen, to the detriment of the community's social and economic vitality."

DiPonio said a lot of businesses and services related to the hospital, such as doctor's offices, labs, and agencies, would suffer in the long run by being forced to relocate to the southern edge of Windsor.

CAMPP has set up a GoFundMe page to raise $100,000 for legal and consultant's fees in appealing the decision of Windsor City Council to rezone the area near the airport for the hospital. The Local Planning Appeal Tribunal has agreed to hear the appeal, and the group has retained Toronto lawyer Eric K. Gillespie. It has also retained respected urban planner Jennifer Keesmaat as an expert witness.

The group said the new hospital would be too far away from many of Windsor's vulnerable population. Supporters of the new hospital, including WRH CEO David Musyj, said the hospital location is no longer up for discussion, and they have urged the group to stop fighting the process and come to them to discuss whatever concerns they have going forward.

As of Wednesday morning, over $53,100 has been raised for the appeal.

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