On one side, they claim theyve finally appeased the vast majority of the neighbourhood.
On the other, theres a distinct feeling of same old, same old.
Depending on what side of the fence youre on, the proposal to expand the Buddhist Lingyen Temple on No. 5 Roads Highway to Heaven is either much needed or much hated.
Theyve not even officially lodged their new rezoning application yet, but the planning consultancy working on behalf of the Lingyen congregation is confident it has addressed residential concerns.
At the behest of those concerns garnered from an open house in the spring and from random local phone surveys Gary Pooni, of Brook Pooni Associates, said the height of the new buildings will now not be more than 98 feet (a two-and-a-half-storey increase).
And the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) has also approved, in principle, an offer from the temple to farm an unused adjacent property it owns, in exchange for expanding the temple 220 metres into its current agricultural land at the rear.
For me, it was mostly supportive of the significantly lower building height, said Pooni, who acknowledged that many among the 200 or so people who attended last weeks latest open house were members of the temples congregation.
And the 98 feet is actually only a small proportion of the roofline and many of the new buildings are at the height of the existing temple or lower.
Less confident of the temples public approval is local resident and former MLA candidate Carol Day, whos fought the expansion at almost every turn since the plans went public about nine years ago.
Turning her focus away slightly from the building height she cant understand why they dont stick to the citys 84-feet bylaw Day is now training her sights on the temples plan to stretch about 220 metres into its agricultural land.
Nothing has changed with this proposal from the early days and the setback they want (220 metres) is now double what the city allows, said Day, who says shell now begin to rally the neighbourhood once more against the plan when it hits city hall later this year.
The setback is now the issue, but (the planners) dont seem to want to talk about that now.
These open houses are simply fishing expeditions, and I simply dont trust the telephone surveys.
The temple is, according to Pooni, one of the few properties on the Highway to Heaven that actually farms its land.
We understand the importance of keeping land in the ALR and weve set aside a significant portion of property to be farmed, he added.
Pooni said theyre still gathering comments and feedback and will speak to temple officials before re-submitting a rezoning proposal by the end of the summer. He hopes to see it come before city council some time in the fall.
The temple wants to expand due to a congregation which, it says, is growing significantly every year.
In 2010, the city asked the temples architect to temporarily withdraw the application after the city decided to launch a comprehensive review of its No. 5 Road Backlands Policy. The policy allows assembly uses, including religious institutions, to locate on property within the ALR in an area between No. 5 Road and Highway 99.
