When my husband and I originally purchased our home in October 2008, we did so with the understanding that the area was zoned for residential homes as well as school institutions. We were comfortable with this, and made our decision to purchase our first home based on what we were told. Now, we have come to understand that there is a change in the application to include “religious establishments”. Had this been what the area had originally been zoned for prior to our purchase, we would have been able to make an informed decision on whether or not we wanted to live in an area which such a large religious establishment.
Coming from a city near Toronto, I grew up having various religions surround me and often segregate me based on my personal background and beliefs. My husband and I chose to move to Guelph as it was an open community where we felt we could belong, fit in, and be able to park on our streets without those streets being over-taken with transient vehicles (as does happen around extremely large religious establishments).
We both feel it is unfair to make a decision to re-zone a community, after so many home owners purchased their homes, and decided to raise their families in an area they believed to be permanently zoned for residential and educational (public and secondary school) establishments. If there is a decision to re-zone, it will likely impact our decision to live in Westminster Woods, and potentially Guelph as well. CK