Dear Owen Sound Council,

While watching the planning debate I became confused whether you were representing the humans that live in Owen Sound or builders who wish to profit from mega projects in Owen Sound. Are you willing to pay 40-65% more per square meter of living space and walk up the stairs even 6 stories with your groceries several times a week? High rises cost 40-65% more to build and maintain. With escalating global supply chain disruptions, tighter energy and maintenance budgets elevators and other big building systems become ever more expensive and precarious to maintain.

The planner made it amply clear that it was a lack of alternative transportation systems that caused the one car space per additional housing unit. So for the people who wanted less than one additional space, why was the upgrading of our local transportation infrastructure, such as bike accessibility not discussed?

With escalating food insecurity, and larger crowds outside our soup kitchens, did it occur to anyone that local food insecurity needs to be addressed before escalating housing density? It seems there are attempts to make decisions without taking into consideration the quality of life in our city, and the larger factors at play. Food insecurity is rising around 4% a year, and may hit 30% of homes as soon as next year. High rise dwellers are the least food secure population segment, with no ability to grow any food, and expanding their number would only exacerbate the problem.

When the planners brought up predatory mega businesses as a reason to have upper limits for easy to approve commercial, why were these concerns dismissed out of hand? Is it not well known there are land owners in Owen Sound that own many units next to each other, and so could reshape our downtown for their own personal gain if not given limits?

May councilors listen closely and think deeply about what they are told by staff, and the human consequences of any policy revisions. May councilors have compassion for the people that live here, and awareness of the greater economic and geopolitical factors that are at play, so that long term consequences of policy decisions can be taken into account. May you speak from a sense of compassion for the people in all aspects of life.

May peace abide in your hearts, Andrii Zvorygin, Owen Sound.