Why Council Should Reject the Rezoning of the 791 Arundel Parkland
Thunder Bay doesn’t need to build on parkland.
On August 11, Council will decide whether to rezone 791 Arundel Community Zone parkland to allow Terralux to build two seven-storey apartment buildings containing 360 residential units.
But the City’s own studies found that Thunder Bay has capacity for 20,000 units of housing -over double the projected need, and all without including the 791 Arundel parkland.
Here are 14 more reasons Council should vote “No.”
1. The City Already Has Enough Land
The City’s own evidence says Community Zone parkland isn’t needed to meet future housing demand.
- The Housing Land Needs Study identified capacity for nearly 20,000 housing units.
- Even under the highest population growth scenario, Thunder Bay needs fewer than 9,000 additional units.
- Neither 791 nor 755 Arundel was needed to meet that target.
- Community Zone parkland is not required to solve Thunder Bay’s housing needs.
2. Better Places Already Exist
Housing belongs where it makes planning sense.
- The InterOcean/Central Lands redevelopment area represents one of Thunder Bay’s largest housing opportunities.
- The City’s Opportunity Sites initiative identified numerous redevelopment locations across Thunder Bay.
- The Province has already identified the former Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital lands for redevelopment.
- Brownfields, institutional lands, and underused commercial properties remain available.
- Community Zone parkland should be the last option -not one of the first.
3. Developers Don’t Get to Choose Parks Because It’s Easier
- Community Zone parkland should not become the first choice simply because it is easier to assemble or develop.
- Developers propose projects. Council decides whether those projects belong in the public interest -and whether those projects belong in parkland.
- Public parkland belongs to the people of Thunder Bay -not to the next developer looking for an available parcel.
- Planning is about serving the public interest -not finding the path of least resistance through a parkland.
- Council’s responsibility is to choose the right location, not simply the easiest one to bulldoze.
4. A Park Is Not Just Another Parcel
This land already has a purpose.
- 791 Arundel has been public parkland for generations.
- Families walk, bike, birdwatch, and enjoy these trails year-round.
- Neighbourhood parks are part of a community’s infrastructure.
- Once Community Zone parkland is rezoned, it is effectively gone forever.
5. Residents Have Spoken
Council was elected to represent the community.
- A significant number of residents signed the petition opposing this rezoning. (More to come about this.)
- Public meetings drew significant attendance.
- Residents continue submitting letters, emails, and oral presentations.
- Opposition includes families, seniors, recreation users, environmental advocates, and nearby residents.
- Community voices deserve meaningful consideration.
6. Public Trust Has Been Damaged
Public trust was lost because confidence in the process steadily eroded.
- Internal memorandums directed staff to identify Community Zone parkland for possible surplus before residents knew 791 Arundel was under consideration.
- Council received survey results showing only 142 participants across the Opportunity Sites initiative and only 52 comments relating specifically to Arundel, yet those numbers were presented without any meaningful discussion about whether they reflected adequate public awareness in a city of approximately 108,000 people.
- Correspondence from Mayor Ken Boshcoff suggested the decision to pursue 791 Arundel had effectively been made before Council voted to declare the land surplus.
- Municipal Freedom and Protection of Privacy requests later revealed that City staff considered 791 Arundel the City’s “most politically/neighbourhood-sensitive parcel.”
- Four evolving site plans, changing reports and new information surfacing throughout the process have left many residents questioning whether they have ever been shown the complete picture.
7. Too Many Questions Remain
Council is being asked to make a permanent decision while important questions remain unanswered.
- Four major redesigns have changed the proposal significantly.
- A future access road now points directly toward neighbouring 755 Arundel parkland.
- Stantec prepared planning work for the City before later appearing as Terralux’s engineering consultant.
- Key technical reports arrived late in the process.
- Residents deserve complete answers before—not after—a rezoning vote.
8. Site Plan Control Is Not a Safety Net
Rezoning comes first. Site Plan comes later.
- Infrastructure challenges still have to be resolved.
- Questions remain regarding servicing, water pressure, sidewalks and other municipal infrastructure.
- If significant problems cannot be mitigated, rezoning has already occurred.
- Council should not assume every issue can simply be solved through Site Plan Control.
9. Who Pays?
Development has costs beyond the buildings themselves.
- Sidewalk construction.
- Water system upgrades.
- Stormwater improvements.
- Road and servicing costs.
- Long-term maintenance responsibilities.
- Residents deserve to know the full financial impact before Council votes.
10. The City’s Own Policies Point Elsewhere
Many of Thunder Bay’s own planning documents support protecting established greenspace.
- Official Plan – promotes complete communities while protecting important environmental and community assets.
- Housing Land Needs Study – demonstrates sufficient residential capacity without 791 or 755 Arundel.
- Urban Forestry Management Plan – recognizes the importance of protecting the urban tree canopy.
- Climate Adaptation Strategy – identifies greenspace as critical infrastructure for climate resilience.
- Parks & Open Space Strategy – recognizes neighbourhood parks as essential public infrastructure.
- Strategic Plan – commits to healthy, connected and livable neighbourhoods.
Collectively, these policies point toward protecting Community Zone parkland -not removing it.
11. Arundel Is Part of Something Bigger
791 Arundel is not an isolated piece of land.
- It forms part of the larger Boulevard Lake greenspace system.
- Wildlife depends on connected habitat.
- Residents depend on connected trails and greenspace.
- Removing one piece weakens the whole system.
12. Precedent Matters
Council isn’t only voting on 791 Arundel. Council is establishing a precedent.
- Today’s vote concerns 791 Arundel.
- Tomorrow’s proposal could be 755 Arundel.
- Other Community Zone parks have already appeared on the City’s potential surplus list, including Adelaide Butterfly Garden, Minnesota Park, Brent Park, Humber Crescent Park, River Terrace Park, Junot Park, Franklin Street Park, and MANY other neighbourhood parks and parkettes.
- Once Community Zone parkland is rezoned once, protecting the next park becomes much more difficult.
13. Council Can Say No
Rejecting this application is not rejecting housing.
- Council is under no obligation to approve this rezoning.
- Housing can proceed on better sites already identified by the City.
- A “no” vote protects Community Zone parkland while allowing housing to move forward elsewhere.
- Good planning is about choosing the right place -not simply approving every proposal.
14. One Vote. Permanent Consequences.
This decision cannot easily be undone.
- Rezoning is permanent.
- Generations of neighbourhood character and identity will be replaced by something that can never be restored..
- The ecology of the Boulevard Lake greenspace will be changed forever.
- Wildlife habitat and ecological connections cannot simply be recreated somewhere else.
- Community trust can take years to rebuild.
- Future Councils will inherit the precedent created today.
- Other Community Zone parks become more vulnerable once this line has been crossed.
- The precedent established on August 11 could shape planning decisions for decades.
The Choice Before Council
Council has before it the City’s own Housing Land Needs Study identifying enough land for nearly 20,000 housing units elsewhere. Council has before it planning policies that point in another direction, unanswered questions about the proposal, concerns about infrastructure, and a community asking that one of its most valued greenspaces remain exactly what it has always been -a public park.
Council has 20,000+ good reasons to protect Arundel. All that’s left is the decision to do it.
