Tensions may not have run as high, but there were still residents unhappy with a proposed development in the Hart.
On Wednesday night, L&M Engineering hosted a public information meeting attended by nearly three dozen residents regarding a new subdivision application in Valleyview lands, east of Dawson Road and south of Austin Road East.
The revised proposal, which has not yet been submitted to the city as a formal application, removes a plan to join the two legs of Monterey Road and extend Dawson Road to meet it - which was met by applause from the assembled residents.
But despite any relief over that news, traffic concerns remained king - especially among those already living on Dawson.
"Should certain local residents have to go through this and be tremendously impacted by future development?" asked resident Dean Cherkas. "Inconvenienced? Sure. But not significantly impacted."
Cherkas and his neighbours expressed concerns that the road, already narrow, is not equipped to handle the potential addition of 200 vehicles, effectively turning a local road into a feeder.
They also questioned the need for the development when land in neighbouring areas has sat with vacant lots for years.
Fellow Dawson Road resident Justin Speer, who will back directly onto any new builds, said he is not against development, but that it should be in an appropriate area.
Cherkas agreed, saying the lay of the land, the riparian features and active wildlife wasn't conducive to the proposed plans.
It was the second meeting about the proposal, with the first held May 23 and according to those who had attended, that packed open house was a scene of raised voices and high tempers from people looking for answers to what they saw as a flawed application.
Following the May meeting and public feedback, the developer - currently a numbered company - asked the consultants to have city council rescind the first and second readings of the requested amendment to the official community plan.
Last night's meeting was a starting point for the new application, and more public input will be sought as it goes through the city process. L&M distributed 275 flyers about the consultation to area residents.
"We listened to the angst at that meeting and made significant changes to the plan," said L&M president David McWalter, who with colleague Claire Negrin presented the new proposal to the accumulated residents. "Now we're at ground zero."
Staff from the city's planning department were also on hand to answer questions about the proposal.
The plan calls to develop nearly 44 hectares of land into a section of rural one acre lots and an area of higher density, urban, single family neighbourhoods.
The new plan is still calling for rezoning of lands, but has made changes to add greenbelt and rural resource zoning to areas they had heard were valleys, wetlands and other sensitive areas.
