Not all expansion bad news

A proposal to add 35 units to the four-year-old Maxwell Residence's 60 apartments for autonomous seniors has stirred strong opinions from the community on both sides. The expansion would allow the residence to provide a full-care wing for seniors who need assistance and can no longer live on their own due to health matters. The expansion will not add any stories to the existing structure.

This facility – as many others like it have -- has become part of our residential landscape as our demographics shift.

The Maxwell Residence is located on Surrey Drive, which is parallel to Highway 20, and is near a school and shopping mall, so there is no real reason to think a seniors' complex will disturb the neighbourhood or cause a drop in real estate values. It is unlikely recreational activities at the residence, which are often open to the public, could be heard over nearby traffic on the nearby highway or on the relatively busy Surrey Drive.

Judging from the many new retirement homes being developed around the West Island currently and in recent years, there is clearly a demand. Many of the people moving in to these buildings have lived in the region for decades and are simply 'downsizing' their living arrangements in their golden years.

The proprietor of the Maxwell Residence seems to have done whatever possible to be a good neighbour by adjusting plans and explaining the realities of the project to citizens and municipal officials. There seems to be little left to object to.

Town council approved a zoning change to allow for the expansion last week. This project makes sense and there is a need for it. Hopefully, nearby residents will accept the changes made and stay away from signing a register to block it, and thus allow the bylaw amendment to finally go through.