Ward 8 Coun. Matt Mahoney wants to see a version of the proposal with fewer units and less probable traffic.

He said if the developer insists on the current size, “they’re going to have to walk away.”

“Everybody wants to come in and build the maximum, and get the maximum value — we'll call it profit — out of a situation," he said. “So to suggest that the numbers don't work unless it's that scale, personally I find that hard to believe.”

A joint federal, provincial and territorial government report in June 2019 found increased supply of housing for seniors was needed overall, with options considering a range of health needs and incomes. The report called for strategies to “encourage and promote production of more diverse and affordable housing options” for seniors.

According to numbers from the 2016 census, 101,780 people, or around 14 per cent of Mississauga’s population, is 65 years old or older. Around 26 per cent of Mississauga’s population, or 155,845 people, was recorded as between 50-64 years old in the 2016 census.

That puts over a third of Mississauga residents at 50 or older.

At a tense Dec. 4 public meeting about the proposal, Corrado and others working with the Carmelite Sisters were peppered with questions and concerns about the project. While some of the nearly 500 people who attended the meeting spoke in support of the proposal, many of the speakers had pointed remarks for the plan.

Corrado has had a hand in building several seniors' homes in Ontario and said retirement homes have been "welcomed" into most neighbourhoods.

He said he and the sisters have been "flabbergasted" by the reaction of Sherwood Forrest residents at the meeting.

"I was genuinely surprised how nasty and venomous people were for an upscale, upper-middle-class neighbourhood like that," he said.

The development is seeking amendments to the city’s official plan to allow for more residential density, as well as a zoning change to permit six-storey buildings. The proposal is also seeking zoning changes to allow for fewer parking spaces, and reductions in space between the site’s driveways and the nearby residential zone.

A currently inactive roadway behind homes on Sherwood Forrest Circle would be reopened to allow access from Dundas Street West in the proposed development.

Mississauga’s official plan has identified Dundas Street as a transit and intensification corridor and access to the street could be an important factor in determining the scale of the development.

The city’s Dundas Connects plan said lands within 300 metres of the corridor “have potential for higher-density, mixed-use development” to match planned transit and cycling infrastructure coming to the area.

Disclaimer: These poll results are not scientific. They are the informal findings of a survey presented to the readers of The Mississauga News and reflect the opinions of those readers who have chosen to participate. The survey is available online to anyone who is interested in taking it.