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The city bought the school property in 2008, held community consultations on a development concept plan in 2009 and handed the property over to the arm’s-length OCLDC in 2014 to sell it.

In 2016, the city changed the concept plan to include a commercial component along Riverside Drive, riling the community.

It has been exactly one year since a preliminary concept plan for the property was approved by the finance and economic development committee, before being ratified by council.

Craig Searle, the president of the Riverside Park Community and Recreation Association who lives near the site, said residents feel slighted by the planning process for the property.

“The community is basically still feeling very upset with the process,” Searle said on Tuesday. “They feel unheard and betrayed. We feel we’ve wasted a lot of our time.”

Searle said the community believes the number of units is too high for the size of the property.

“The city is growing and getting more dense as we go, but this isn’t close to an LRT station,” Searle said. “It completely goes against the Riverside Park secondary plan, which says any development in this area should align closely in nature with what’s existing.”

Frank Wilson, who also lives near the site, said the development would only increase the volume of traffic cutting through the community.

Wilson bought his home in 2012 after being wowed by the open land behind the property and view to the Rideau River.