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Broccolini has already agreed to reduce the height of its proposal to 22 metres from 30 metres. The buffer will give residents even more protection, Moffatt said. Existing bylaws allow building to within 15 metres of the lot line.

“This is a site that’s already designated for development so it’s a question of how can we reduce the impact?” he said. “That whole 100-metre swath of land is now forest and a berm. That forest wasn’t even protected before today. What’s going to happen in 10 years, 20 years, 30 years? This will let us go in there, maybe build up the berm even more and plant more trees. Do some things that mitigate for those residents no matter how it develops.”

The marathon five-hour committee meeting included more than 30 presentations from residents opposed to the proposal. Broccolini played coy about its plans, but representative James Beach conceded the company is considering opportunities in line with the concept of a 65,000-square-metre warehouse employing up to 1,700 workers.

Opponents argue that North Gower is not the place for such a massive building and that the town’s existing plan says the site should be used for development that supports the area’s agricultural nature.

Farmer Dave Tupper choked up with emotion when he mentioned how city planners referred to the property, currently used as crop land, as “idle”.

“To call that land idle is to say what all farmers do is idle,” said Tupper, who farms corn and soybeans on his property on Second Line Road.