Hillcrest residents continued to urge city council Monday night not to rezone four properties on Hillcrest Drive.

Kirn Dhillon is proposing to tear down his family's four steelox duplexes and replace them with three-level townhouses. There would be four townhouse units taking up the space of one duplex.

Dhillon has applied to have the zoning changed to Comprehensive Residential Townhouse (restricted) from Residential Single Detached. That move doesn't sit well with many residents of the neighbourhood who have been letting city officials know.

"I don't want to see the steelox (duplexes) demolished,” Jan Bro, one of seven people to speak on the rezoning, said at the public hearing.

She argued the housing style common in the neighbourhood is part of the city's history and should be preserved.

She recalled a recent trip to Saint John's, Nfld. and the century-old homes that are still being used there.

The steelox duplexes, built in the 1940s and 1950s as military housing, are a major part of the Hillcrest neighbourhood, Bro said.

She also argued the neighbourhood's aging infrastructure needs to be updated before there can be any kind of increase in density.

Many have opposed the doubling of density that would come if the townhouse project goes ahead.

Paul Inglis, for example, noted that while each townhouse unit is proposed to have two parking spots, there's still likely to be more vehicles being parked on the street.

"This needs to be looked at in more depth,” Inglis said in requesting that council reject the rezoning application.

As another delegate told council that one of the parking spots will be in a garage on the bottom level of each townhouse, and it's not uncommon for garages to be used for storage rather than vehicle parking.

Even if some people do use their garages for parking, many households have three vehicles between their transportation and recreational pursuits, which means at least one would end up parked on the narrow street.

"Hillcrest Drive is not meant to accommodate this kind of parking,” it was argued.

With little yard space, children would likely be playing on the road too, Inglis said.

Others painted a picture of a changed neighbourhood where the single-storey duplex homes that help define the neighbourhood are torn down, forever changing the character of Hillcrest.

"This is precedent-setting for the community,” Laura Markle said.

While there are changes happening, she added, there's been nothing requiring the demolition of the steelox structures.

The proposed buildings' height – three levels, including the garage/basement – has been an issue for many residents who pointed to the shadows the taller buildings would create.

Coun. Dave Stockdale noted that even under the current zoning, a three-level house could be built on the site with the maximum height for the zone at 10 metres.

As he did with many delegates, Stockdale asked Markle what she could live with in terms of development on the site. He pointed out the maximum height limit could allow for a three-floor development regardless of whether the zoning changes.

Markle responded by saying she believes there needs to be an overall community consultation on the future of Hillcrest.

"I think we need a broad picture,” she said.

City staff will also have another 44 written submissions to consider as they prepare a report on Monday's public hearing for next week's council meeting.

Rob Fendrick, the city's director of administrative services, said of those, three offered their support for the proposal, 11 noted concerns they have with it and 30 were opposed.

Second and third readings of the rezoning are scheduled to come forward at council's Sept. 24 meeting.