A Hamilton neighbourhood association wants the province to advance a lower-rise redevelopment for the city-owned Jamesville housing project instead of a higher-density plan under review for a zoning order.

But the city councillor who represents the area warns a major change in the plan, a partnership with a private developer consortium, could further delay a project already slowed by a protracted dispute with CN Rail.

“I think it’s a reasonable fear that the developer could walk away from the project,” said Coun. Cameron Kroetsch, who also sits on the board of the city’s affordable housing agency.

In 2022, the past city council approved a plan to redevelop the vacated, subsidized townhouse complex off James Street North into a 447-unit, mixed-income community with building heights of

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