___‘H7 ,7 r" WELCOME nun rim- , Fm iho'm a,ooah'h%%ueal'/.'o, My. an"... In“. 't" "e'r4.'e,N,',nr,,1E,Pit' A. . Fonsuuonsmos mmnm-un 14"†"""""'""1?"ft Idiai u...“ own-m without â€baryon! vacuum FORSUNOHSIMDE 302?: In; I.- 1min CONCRETE " ll" alto-Lu: dogs. (if:) 119.99 Region asks Waterloo city council to reconsider Vista Hills development plan 'aterloo regional Wcouncil has asked the City of Water- loo to review its controver- sial Vista Hills develop- "i799 LILACS alta,,.)!,?,'.'. By Boa Van/mac Chronicle Staff 2 _; wt" l -rrirTGaiiirai; $3. 14 cam-mm own-Mom onus-mum '5“ p.- ment plan with the recom- mendation that traffic be kept off Wilmot Line in order to protect some nearby environmentally sensitive lands. "The challenge of this issue is balancing the thunk-pun.- h.“. M* wink-uphill.- igt.18 'N" needs of a growing city with the needs of the exist- ing community." said Waterloo regional Coun. Sean Strickland. "We must accommodate growth in a manner that minimizes the impact on the quality of life of those who live here. "But I think we're head- ing down the rigttrpatty" The housing develop- ment will be built on the Waterloo Moraine, one of the chief sources of ground water for the area. The concern from local environmentalist was that too much vehicular traffic on the Wilmot Line could lead to water contamina- tion from things like road salt. Increased traffic on Wilmot Line will also put stresses on nearby lands like those of Fred Schnei- der, who allows passive- recreation in an area known as Schneider's Bush. The suggestion is to have the traffic collect within the new subdivision and exit via Columbia Street, thereby avoiding the potential for c0nges- tion on Wilmot Line and nearby Wideman Road. But Rob Trotter, a devel- opment planner handling the file for the City of Waterloo. made a presen- tation ID regional council "We think the environ- mental assessment should proceed now. and if as a result of that access to the Wilmot Line shouldn't be encouraged, then we would go back and revisit the district plan," said Trotter. "Not the other way around." last week that said any traf- fic restriction on Wilmot Line would be dependent on the environmental assessment. The plan to funnel most of the traffic through the subdivision is also contrary to the city's current district plan. which promotes a dispersion model where people get into the subdi- vision by multiple access points. “It's so that one specific street doesn't carry a load, so to speak, of all the traffic in the neighbourhood," said Trotter. "That's a fundamental shift if we're going to move to a collector road system built within the subdivi- sion." It will also mean a fun- damental shift in the thinking of city council to change the plan, "We'll have to see what the City oi Waterloo court- cil wants tir do with that recommendation," said Trotter.