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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, F eb ru ar y 7, 20 19 | 10 OfferingTwO OpTOmeTry Offices in geOrgeTOwn has opened a 2nd location at the mill street medical centre. DOwnTOwn geOrgeTOwn | 83 mill st | 905 873 1867 meTrO plaza | 371 mountainview rd s | 905 873 1861 GIDDENS OPTOMETRY family eye care services Day, Evening and Saturday Hours | Same day appointments for urgent eye care. Please phone. Dr. Andrea Kozma Dr. Ben Giddens Dr. Stephanie Britton vicinity. At a town council meet- ing on Jan. 21, town planner Keith Hamilton presented a report outlining applications and approvals that must be sought in order to move for- ward with the project. The plan, put forth by As- trid J. Clos Planning Consul- tants on behalf of the builder Charleston Homes, proposes the townhomes will be built at 284 Queen St. in Acton, a L-shaped lot situated be- tween Longfield and Mead- vale roads. Jeff Markowiak, manag- er of development review with the Town of Halton Hills, says Charleston Homes has suggested the townhouses be geared to- ward seniors and empty nesters, with prices starting around the mid-500s, though that figure has yet to be final- ized. "This townhouse devel- opment, if approved by coun- cil, will provide a product that there really isn't much of in Acton and so it gives people within Acton looking to stay within their commu- nity (and) age within their community an option to buy a unit that allows them that," he said. "It is also a site that is conveniently located for commercial uses so for mo- bility reasons that's a definite asset." The houses are outlined to be 1.5 storeys and no high- er than 8.5 metres, with two parking spaces per unit and five additional spots for visi- tor parking. Ridsdill says the pro- posed number of visitor parking spots is low, and that any additional visitors will be forced to park on the road around her home. "You can't even get out of my driveway because the li- quor store is there," she told council on Jan. 21. "If all these houses are coming there, there's got to be a traf- fic light there or something." And when out walking her dogs, Ridsdill says she al- ready takes additional pre- cautions due to the number of vehicles speeding down the street. "This right here," she said, pointing out the front window of her home to the road ahead, "it's a speed ramp. I've had to yell at cars to slow down, but they can't hear me." Linda Ockenden, who lives on Meadvale Road, has a similar issue when trying to walk her small dog. She says current traffic on her street often makes her fear crossing the road. "It was always a quiet street," she said. "Now there's people racing around the corner and they don't even stop at the stop sign." She added that she now avoids leaving her street during busy times of day be- cause it takes her up to 15 minutes to make a safe turn. "They need another traf- fic light in town to break it up," she added. At the meeting, Clos in- formed the public that a traf- fic analysis had been con- ducted in the area that found the additional vehicles that would be present as a result of the new development would not significantly im- pact the neighbouring resi- dents. "From this site, the esti- mated morning peak hour trip, so the number of cars leaving and coming into the site, would be eight and the weekday afternoon peak trips would be 12," she said. "That's not a large volume of cars, but I certainly under- stand the concern." Longfield resident Nata- cha Verdiel says she hopes the town can conduct a sec- ond traffic analysis at a time that better depicts the large volumes of traffic she experi- ences. "I really wish the analysis would have been done at like 6:30 p.m. on a Friday right up until like 10 minutes after the LCBO closes because I can't even get into my driveway. Legitimately, it is parked from the corner of the street, right up the road," Verdiel told council. "It's the only LCBO in town, so it's hell." Aside from traffic and parking congestion, which is atop the list of residents' con- cerns, Hamilton outlined a number of others at the Jan. 21 meeting, which he says the town is looking into, includ- ing concerns that privacy fencing will not be high enough and that dust from the construction will spread into nearby properties. Verdiel says the dust is of significant concern to her, as she has a young son with se- vere allergies. "I'm going to have to keep my windows closed con- stantly so he doesn't go into anaphylaxis," she told coun- cil at the meeting. Markowiak says a strate- gy to manage dust will be re- viewed by town staff as part of a construction manage- ment plan for the project. "(The plan) looks at all of the types of things the com- munity would be interested in that may have an impact to the functions of the com- munity or raise concerns for abutting residents," he said. "Part of that is how you are going to try to undertake the construction development process." NEWS Continued from page 1 RESIDENTS, DEVELOPERS HAVE DIFFERING VIEWS ON TOWNHOMES STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Can the list of complaints brought up by area residents be satisfactorily dealt with by builders, town. THE ISSUE: IS PROPOSED TOWNHOME DEVELOPMENT GOOD OR BAD FOR ACTON? LOCAL IMPACT: RESIDENTS PREDICT TRAFFIC NIGHTMARES, DEVELOPERS SAY UNITS NEEDED