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By Mark Newman
Mountain News
Residents living near Chedoke hospital have until midnight Dec. 31 to vote on-line for one of six public development options for the brow lands.

City planning staff and a subcommittee of residents originally came up with five options after community input in October. One of the options for medium- low development has since been split into two sections, one calling for the use of some existing buildings on the brow lands and the other would see those buildings torn down.

At a Dec. 13 public information centre at the Nash auditorium, residents were given the option of voting for one of six options ranging from no development to medium development.

A vote in person and on-line following a Nov. 13 public meeting indicated the residents’ two preferred options were either no development or limited development with 26 single family homes. But many of the neighbours noted that vote was done without knowing unit numbers, traffic flow numbers and population density estimates that city planning staff provided at last week’s meeting and requested all the options be opened for a final vote.

Some residents also noted many neighbours were unable to attend the Dec. 13 meeting and requested they be given the opportunity to vote on-line.

City senior project manager Brenda Khes said Chedoke area residents who were unable to attend the meeting can vote on-line via www.hamilton.ca/brow lands up until midnight Dec. 31.

Ward 8 councillor Terry Whitehead told last week’s meeting his office will print a few hundred flyers notifying Chedoke area residents of the final on-line vote if some of the neighbours agree to deliver them.

Many of the residents who attended last week’s meeting voted for their preferred option by placing a red sticker on one of six diagrams outlining each proposal.

Option number one – no development- garnered five votes. Option number two – limited development with 25 single detached homes – drew 16 votes. Option 3a – medium low development with 234 units drew eight votes. Option 3b – featuring 122 units, 68 of which would be in existing buildings, received four votes.

Option four – mixed use medium development with 256 units – attracted eight votes and Option five – the most development with 469 units – garnered two votes.

The residents’ input, which began with the first of four public information centres in September, will be used by the city to develop a modified secondary plan for the area which the residents hope will control the size and scope of future development on the brow lands.

Last spring, Deanlee Management of Mississauga purchased the brow lands from the Chedoke Health Corporation and in June submitted a proposal to the city to build 750 high-end condominium units on the site. The developer is also looking to close Sanatorium Road north of Scenic and make it a private condo road. The road closure process is expected to go through the public process in the coming months.

The city’s economic development and planning committee will consider both the modified secondary plan developed by the residents and Deanlee’s proposal in March or April. Planning staff also have the option of recommending to the councillors a proposal that incorporates some aspects of both proposals.

“We’ll prepare a report that includes all the information,” Ms. Khes said. “Everything Deanlee submitted, all the community consultation that we’ve done and we end up with a planning option and we justify what approach we are taking in that planning option. We provide a planning rationale for it.”

Barry Colbert, one of the Chedoke residents who has been part of the public planning process since the beginning, commended city planners for involving the residents in the process.

“I’m really impressed with the city planning department and the length they’ve gone to really educate us and do some pretty professional work here to show us what these things could look like and to facilitate the process as well to try and get us converging on something,” Mr. Colbert said. “I would vote for something medium because I’m concerned about the environmental impact of dropping 2,000 new people on the edge of the brow.”

Deanlee will hold a public information meeting about their proposal Jan. 17, 6:30 p.m. in the Nash auditorium. The developer is also offering to host a tour of Deanlee projects in the Toronto area, similar to the one being proposed for the brow lands, on the same day.