KITCHENER — Residents in a Chicopee neighbourhood are against a proposed townhouse development because they claim the high-density condo plan is unsafe and will lead to a traffic nightmare on their streets.

The three-storey, 68-unit townhouse project is slated for Morrison Road on a small stretch of hillside property near King Street East. The builder is Cook Homes.

Stephen Tisdall and Rick McElheran, who both live near the proposed development, led a community meeting Saturday afternoon at Romanian Pentecostal Church of God on Grand River Boulevard, which filled a community room with about 150 people, many of them concerned with the development.

Tisdall and McElheran said they want a traffic study to examine what 68 new units will mean for traffic in the neighbourhood.

Residents are concerned about Morrison Road, which is a narrow, winding road with no sidewalks.

“Morrison Road is a little more than a cow trail,” said McElheran, who is also proposing an environmental site assessment for the property.

Currently, there are two partially-demolished houses on the site.

Tisdall and McElheran will make their views known before Kitchener council Monday night.

Tisdall said the proposed stacked townhomes will be located on a parcel of land about 1.4 hectares large. The project is slated as affordable condo units.

“This isn’t about snobbery or class. I started in affordable housing,” he said.

Although a site plan hasn’t been approved by the city, trees in a woodlot on the property were taken down more than a year ago, said Tisdall.

“This is out of character with our neighbourhood,” said Tisdall, who lives on Manor Drive.

Tisdall said he isn’t against developing the property, but says three-storey buildings are not conducive with the residential area.

Also, the townhomes will be close to the transit corridor, the future LRT track on King Street, which allows for trains to Cambridge.

Crystal Bonsi, who’s lived on Oneida Place for 20 years, said she supports housing on the property, but is worried about the number of homes being built.

“I had no idea they are stacked like that,” she said.

Mike MacCumber lives in a two-storey townhouse on Grand River Boulevard that backs on to King Street.

“Grand River Boulevard is an alternate road when there are problems on King Street,” he said. “It will be a nightmare traffic issue.

“It (the development) is not suitable for this area,” he said.