A developer's proposal to build more than 1,700 homes in a small, historic eastern Ontario village drew hundreds of concerned residents to a community meeting Tuesday night.

Minto Developments Inc. plans to build up to 2,000 homes in the village of Manotick, which is now part of Ottawa.
(CBC)

The meeting was held at the local hockey arena in Manotick, which is now part of Ottawa, by several local community groups worried about the proposal.

Minto Developments Inc. revealed at a public meeting last month it plans to build a subdivision on a parcel of land just south of the village core that will add up to 2,000 homes within 15 years.

That would more than double the number of homes in the quaint, rural community of 1,750 homes that includes historic buildings such as a 19th-century mill on a quiet channel of the Rideau River.

At the meeting, Manotick resident Diane Rummery argued there is no subtle way to incorporate so many new buildings into a village.

"Villages should evolve, villages grow gradually," she said. "Suburbs are just plunked down. Villages have a middle, and suburbs don't."

Her concerns were shared by the president of the West Manotick Community Association, one of the groups that organized the meeting.

Brian Tansley said he thinks the development would hurt the community.

Brian Tansley, president of the West Manotick Community Association, said he thinks the development would hurt the community.
(CBC)

"This impulsive, dramatic change in the population, without any accompanying accommodation for the infrastructure that will be required to service that impulsive change, is going to, I think, rip into the fabric of this place, and we're very concerned about that," he said in an interview before Tuesday's meeting.

Some residents argue the village doesn't have the roads or recreational facilities to handle the growth and worry the community will lose its village feel.

Minto vice-president Jack Stirling said the company has heard residents' concerns and plans to build a subdivision "in concert" with the village.

But he was firm about the fact that the subdivision will be built.

"This land is going to be developed. It may not be developed exactly with the options we've laid out right now," he said. "But this isn't something we're going to walk away from."

Meanwhile, Coun. Glenn Brooks, who represents Manotick at Ottawa city hall, said he thinks the proposed development does not conform to a municipal official plan that will be in effect until 2020 and an amendment would be needed for it to go forward.