Mississauga council has hit the brakes on a proposed development after nearby residents sounded the alarm on potential traffic impacts.

A decision on the proposed 75-townhouse development on Barbertown Road in Ward 6 was deferred until later in the year while the city considers issues with the project. City staff had recommended that the council approve the development, which is proposed by Barbertown Ventures Inc.

Richard Mattieuzzo, who lives near the proposed development, said that the intersection of Eglinton Avenue and Barbertown Road, which is one of only two access points to the existing neighbourhood, is “already a mess.”

“And if you were to add the volumes of expected traffic it would just become a bee's nest,” he said.

The first application for the project had 96 townhouse units, which was down to 83 earlier this year. While the application was 83 units, there was an anticipated population of 252 residents and 187 total parking spaces.

During the Sept. 11 council meeting where the project was considered, a city-approved traffic study was a repeated point of contention for residents.

Mattieuzzo presented a “community” traffic study of the area to council and said there was a “wide discrepancy” from the city-approved report.

Over six days in 2019, the community traffic report found an average 31 vehicles making a left turn eastbound onto Eglinton Ave between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. The city-approved study, which was conducted by nexTrans on a single day in October 2017, found 17 vehicles making that turn between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.

The nexTrans report anticipated that the development would generate 44 two-way trips during the weekday morning peak and 52 two-way trips during the weekday afternoon one. The study found that area intersections would “operate with acceptable levels of service” with the proposed development.

Mattieuzzo also took issue with Barbertown Ventures Inc. paying to produce the traffic report, something he called a “conflict of interest.”