New grassroots group forms to keep ‘eyes’ on Waterloo council
Posted Oct 5, 2025 05:19:26 AM.
Last Updated Oct 5, 2025 11:53:30 AM.
A grassroots organization has sprouted to keep an eye on the actions of Waterloo council.
Eyes on Waterloo, or EOW, was formed in response to council’s decision in June to reverse course on a temporary arts hub at St. Columba Anglican Church at 250 Lincoln Rd.
Speaking on the Mike Farwell Show on Monday, Jeff Percival and Wendy Ridgway, founding members of Eyes on Waterloo, said once that decision was made to scrap the arts hub in favour of housing, the trust with council was all but lost.
“The people of our neighbourhood are good people, they understand we need a diversity in the type of housing, but we are also a very intelligent people,” Percival said.
“That council meeting did not wash well with almost everybody there; we felt like it was pre-arranged.”
Waterloo council bought the church property back in February for $2.9 million, with the goal of signing a three-year lease to convert it into an art studio. That deal would have allowed ArtsBuild Ontario to use the space while the city owned it.
Then, during a meeting on June 23, that decision was overruled and the property is now to be used for affordable housing. A report is expected to come to council later this year.
Percival said while the trust with council has been lost, they still want to work with them.
“We just want decisions to be made that are in the [community’s] best interest,” he said. “We understand about the housing crisis and that it needs to be addressed, but we also want our neighbourhood, which has been established, to be considered in terms of what goes on that property.”
Early estimations from the city said that at its current zoning level, the land could accommodate 12 housing units, but could be up to 30 if zoning is changed. Ridgeway said some of the concerns from the community are around the height of any building and traffic, especially around the intersection of Lincoln Road and Mayfield Avenue.
“It’s a very busy corner,” she said, adding that Lincoln Heights Elementary School uses the parking lot for pickup and drop-off. “Young parents are extremely concerned.”
As of now, the group has around 50 members and plans to attend all meetings moving forward, identifying themselves with lanyards with the group’s logo on it.
