Lafford Properties is one step closer to being able to build a new six-storey, 71-unit building at 131 Main Street in Sackville, after Tantramar Council approved the first and second readings of bylaw changes at their meeting Tuesday night. The changes involve rezoning part of the property to a higher density R3 zone, and also changing the R3 definition to allow for up to 65 feet in height from the current 50 foot limit.<\/p>\n
The zoning amendments now must pass a third reading at a Tantramar Council meeting, with the next regular meeting slated for August.<\/p>\n
The votes were nearly unanimous, with just one councillor, Bruce Phinney, voting against. Phinney told reporters after the meeting that he didn\u2019t feel the Lafford project would help solve the town\u2019s housing problem, that it would cause traffic issues, and that the building was generally \u201cin the wrong place.\u201d He also harkened back to his nay votes as a Sackville town councillor in 2014, when late developer Gordon Beal had applied for a zoning change on the same property. \u201cIf I voted in favour of this,\u201d said Phinney, \u201cI\u2019d consider myself a hypocrite. And that\u2019s one thing I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n
All eight of Phinney\u2019s colleagues voted in favour of both zoning amendments, with many commenting on the variety of opinions they heard from constituents on the topic. Deputy Mayor Greg Martin said he was swamped by emails, \u201csometimes as many as a dozen a day with different opinions.\u201d Martin said he started the process undecided, and appreciated the time he had to talk with people about the proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur downtown core is dying and we have the power to help it,\u201d said Councillor Josh Goguen. \u201cThe proposed development will house 71 families, increasing the population close to downtown. These families can easily access what amenities are available by foot or by car.\u201d<\/p>\n
The housing crisis also featured prominently in comments from those in support of the amendments. \u201cThere is an absolute shortage of housing all across this nation,\u201d said Mayor Andrew Black. \u201cAnd if we have an opportunity to build it in town\u2014safely, securely, with a wonderful build that is supportive of the community\u2014I think that we need to take advantage of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councillor Michael Tower mentioned both the proposed Beal University Canada nursing program and recent hiring at the AIL pipe plant as adding to the demand for housing in town. \u201cWith all this pressure going on, we\u2019re going to have to find ways to build,\u201d said Tower, adding that he felt concerns over the emergency access to the building and the suitability of the site were addressed by Lafford.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know from the past that this man builds quality buildings,\u201d said Tower. \u201cSo to turn our back on somebody who\u2019s invested so deeply in our community, I think would be wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councillor Allison Butcher also voted in favour, noting that there had been controversy when the Marshwinds Co-op first planned to build on the lot next to 131 Main. \u201cOver 30 years ago, there were many, many of our community members who really didn\u2019t think we should have co-op housing in the area,\u201d said Butcher. \u201cAnd now, 30 years later, everyone is quite thrilled that it\u2019s there. So I think that we need to move forward. Our community needs housing\u2026 all housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councillors Barry Hicks, Matt Estabrooks, and Debbie Wiggins Colwell also voted in favour of the zoning changes, but did not speak as to their reasons during the meeting.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s still one more reading to go before the amendments are officially approved by council. Mayor Black says there are as yet no special meetings scheduled in the coming month, and so the matter will likely be back before council for their August 8 regular monthly meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lafford Properties is one step closer to being able to build a new six-storey, 71-unit building at 131 Main Street in Sackville, after Tantramar Council approved the first and second readings of bylaw changes at their meeting Tuesday night. The changes involve rezoning part of the property to a higher density R3 zone, and also…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":163424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[217,21655,225],"tags":[27720,28163,28162,28161,11962,27766,22107],"radio":[227],"origine":[274,275,277],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166831"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166831"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":166954,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166831\/revisions\/166954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166831"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=166831"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=166831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}