Editorial
Development will always spark conflict

In keeping with the cyclical way that life often works, subdivisions and residential developments seem to be prominent of late in King news.

Township councillors and the public took part in a lengthy and involved discussion Monday night on a proposed development in Schomberg, there have been separate meetings in the last two weeks concerning the Slokker and Baldesarra developments in Nobleton, and discussions over what is known as the Stupp property are planned for the coming month. And can presentations by aspiring developers in King City be far off?

We will be hearing a lot about these proposals in the next little while.

Discussions and debates about proposed residential subdivisions always cause some anguish and controversy, with tempers frequently getting hot. That is understandable. There are people seeing proposed changes that could affect what they hold very dear; their homes, the houses they have invested much of their net worth into in order to live and raise families. There would be something very wrong if they weren't concerned when a developer is seen eying lands in their neighbourhood. And so they get nervous, and even suspicious.

But the fact is developers are not necessarily bad people, although it would probably be true to say some are better than others. There are some features in developments that people don't like, and other items that tend to benefit the community. There are those who might not like what Slokker has planned for part of Nobleton, for example, but there have been some positive signs for the community, be it a large plot of land for conservation or 60 cuddly Teddy Bears for children going through traumatic experiences.

With a growing population in the Greater Toronto Area, the reality is these people will need some place for themselves and their children to live, and developers are part of filling that need. And it is also true they are in it for the money too, which is just a sign of how the system works.

People living near a proposed subdivision want to make sure the development proposal causes as little impact on their lives and properties as possible, and there are some who undoubtedly wish that developers would just go away. Not very likely in a world of economic reality.

And developers have ideas of what they would like to see to realize the most return on their investment, and they would probably like to see a lot of the legal and procedural hoops they have to jump through just go away. Not very likely in today's political climate.

So the result is something commonly known as a stand-off, with local politicians and municipal staffers sort of pressed into service as referees.

That is the reality that faces several areas in King. We regret that we have yet to figure out a solution to it all yet.

Another reality is the idea of urban planning has been around for some time, but no one has yet figured out how to please everyone. We certainly can't be expected to solve that one in a couple of hundred words here.