Boyle McCauley residents oppose public housing plan

Residents of Edmonton's Boyle McCauley community turned out Tuesday night to oppose a public housing project planned for the neighbourhood.

The provinceneedszoning approvalto build a four-storey apartment buildingat a vacant lot on 90th Street and 111th Avenue. The building would house low-income single people but would include some office space on the ground floor.

Cris Basualdo, one of about 20 residents at the public meeting, said the area already has enough social housing. "This community needs a lot of help to improve some of the problems that we have been trying to overcome such as crime, ecetera. So really what we're looking for is family-oriented housing."

She said she would rather see market-value housing along with restaurants and stores to attract people to the neighbourhood.

Capital Region Housingrequires city council approval for the apartment.

But Councillor Tony Caterina said he agreed with the residents. "As a city, we're trying to promote infill into mature neighbourhoods. In order to do that, we want to attract families. These units are all single units."