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Don’t force new Warfield bylaws down our throats

Letter to the Editor from Norm Marchi and Neal Smith
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The Village of Warfield council is currently engaged in re-writing the village’s zoning bylaws.

These bylaws are important to all residents of Warfield because it controls what we can or cannot build on our property, or what your neighbor can or cannot do with their property.

Due to COVID, the village has engaged with the residents on this issue through Zoom meetings and online surveys.

These meetings and surveys were sometimes posted only a day or two before they were to take place.

Out of 1,700 residents, only a handful have been a part of these meetings and surveys, mainly because most people were not aware that such an important decision was being made during this pandemic.

Some concerned residents of Warfield have spoken up and requested that a decision on these bylaws be postponed until we are all able to have an open, face to face meeting, so everyone can be involved and have their say.

Some of the councillors also do not see the rush to get all of this passed as soon as possible.

This document is over 70 pages and is very complex.

At the council meeting on Monday [April 12] the mayor quickly passed the motion to move on to the next stage, which will be a public hearing.

We understand that even when they have the public hearing, if some residents are opposed to this being passed so quickly, the mayor still intends on adopting these bylaws.

We are not opposed to development or growth for our community, but want to see planned development and move away from ad hoc decisions.

When our mayor ran for council, one of the main reasons she was elected was because she said “the number one challenge I see facing our council is a trust barrier. I intend, if elected, to strengthen council’s ability to communicate with its citizens.

“We need to start asking our citizens what they want, letting them have a voice in the community, listening to citizens and following up.”

Well the time has come to listen to what the citizens of Warfield are telling you — it is loud and clear.

We are asking that these new bylaws be postponed until we can all meet together as citizens and talk about this as a community.

We do not want this forced down our throats by the people we have elected to speak our voice.

Norm Marchi and Neal Smith on behalf of concerned citizens of Warfield



newsroom@trailtimes.ca

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