WARD 5 DEBATE: IS IT TIME FOR EAST HAMILTON TO GROW UP?

CANDIDATES SPAR OVER WHERE TALL BUILDINGS AND TRIPLEXES BELONG ON THE EDGE OF STONEY CREEK.

Would-be Ward 5 councillors disagree over where or even whether the east city ward should grow up.

Several candidates vying to replace past councillor-turned-MP Chad Collins sparred over housing intensification at a Cable 14 debate co-hosted with The Hamilton Spectator last Thursday.

Hamilton opted last year to freeze its urban boundary after a grassroots push to preserve farmland and avoid the climate and financial cost of urban sprawl. The city is now targeting taller, more dense development, particularly along major transit corridors.

But past city employee Matt Francis said he would be "pushing back" against one high-profile example of such development: a 5,000-unit multi-tower makeover of Eastgate Square mall at the east end of Hamilton's planned light rail transit line.

He argued the neighbourhood is "very concerned" about a series of proposed towers on the 45acre site, with one pitched to reach 42 storeys. Francis also appeared to question why candidate Lynda Lukasik supported the plan.

Lukasik, the longtime head of Environment Hamilton who lives in the area, said she shares neighbourhood concerns about going beyond the current height limit of 20 storeys on the site. "Clearly we haven't had the (necessary) community conversations."

But Lukasik also noted higher density and "transit-oriented development" was supported by the previous ward councillor as a way to start addressing Hamilton's housing crisis. "I'm all for family-friendly units being considered here, affordable housing, deeply affordable housing and accessible housing," she said. "It could make a huge difference."

Realtor Krysta Boyer also stressed the need for more affordable housing while acknowledging the need for a "careful" and "balanced" approach to growth, while Ryan Ladner noted the looming traffic challenge.

"We need to be smart about this sort of development," said Ladner, who previously worked as constituency assistant to former Hamilton East-Stoney Creek MPP Paul Miller.

Lukasik later turned the growth question around on Francis, asking whether he supported the city's urban boundary freeze — and if so, how he thought Hamilton could add new homes without growing up.

Francis said he would respect council's decision to grow within its existing borders, but argued the city's updated zoning plans to allow widespread 'gentle density' — think duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes — do not belong in singlefamily home neighbourhoods in the east end.

"We should focus our intensification efforts toward building our downtown core, not in (the) beautiful backyards of Ward 5," he said. Former regional pollution abatement officer Stan Habza also suggested dense, tall intensification should be focused in the core. "Build downtown. Rebuild the downtown area."

Bob Hurst, who works for the Canada Revenue Agency, criticized that approach as NIMBYism (Not in My Backyard) and a recipe for higher taxes.

"Infill is something that is necessary unless we all want to see our taxes go up," he said. "That is what is going to keep happening if we ... expand out, because we need to expand up."