GUELPH — A long list of delegates has registered to speak to Guelph city council regarding a controversial student rental housing condominium proposal at a former Anglican church property.

Among those is John Lawson, a United Church pastor looking beyond the loss of the former St. Matthias Anglican Church property at Edinburgh and Kortright roads for the faith community, to what the demise of a social hub means to the community at large on the city's south side.

"There's a role for the church (property) in the community," Lawson said Monday, pointing to the evolution of churches to also be meeting places for not-for-profit organizations like the scouting movement.

He's worried that as churches struggle to stay aloft in difficult economic times, they consider closure when other options may exist as shared facilities in the larger community. He's not seeing church organizations taking a leadership role in this.

"That's the frustration that I have," Lawson said.

"For me, the key issue is health and balance in the community," he said.

"There's a spiritual dimension to life," he stressed, adding churches contribute significantly to fostering and maintaining that, so should be preserved. Already, he said, churches have a limited presence here to bring people and groups together.

"If you look at the south end of Guelph, there's very little of that." Schools and libraries, he said, have limited availability and restricted hours for community groups, and may have costs associated to them.

HIP Developments of Waterloo wants a zoning change at the former church site at 171 Kortright Rd. W. to build a six-storey, 81-unit Solstice 3 condo complex for private investors leasing to students. It follow a similar Solstice 1 development on Gordon Street South. Another proposal from the company, Solstice 2, is also filed with the city for a property at Gordon Street and Edinburgh Road.

More than two dozen individual and group delegations are expected to address council at planning meeting on Monday April 13. That list includes the McElderry Community and Friends neighbourhood group.