Long-awaited Statements of Public Interest could undermine authority of local councils
When Tantramar finally gets around to reviewing, updating, and consolidating its municipal plans, there could be a new set of province-wide principles to follow.
At the end of June, the province released draft Statements of Public Interest to help steer municipalities when creating and amending their community plans. Brand new Local Government Minister Glen Savoie says the new statements will help accomplish, ”consistent standards for land-use planning to be effective in the province.” A feedback period on the statements ends this Friday.
The draft statements cover five topics: settlement patterns, agriculture, climate change, flood and natural hazard areas, and natural resources. (Scroll down to read the statements, or find the draft in PDF form here.) The document reads like a sort of value system for municipal planning, though an unprioritized one, including things like development of natural resources and environmental protection, without guidance on what should take precedence.
The New Brunswick Association of Planners has been advocating for New Brunswick to adopt Statements of Public Interest, or SPIs, for over ten years now, according to president Andrew Smith.
“New Brunswick is one of the last provinces in Canada to implement SPIs,” says Smith via email. “Although the proposed [statements] are generalized and aspirational in nature, they set out the initial basis for this much needed provincial policy framework for New Brunswick,” he writes.
But politics professor and former municipal councillor Geoff Martin sees the potential for the vagueness of the proposed SPIs to result in an uneven implementation of the principles.… Continue
Bickford makes case to bring back drive-thrus, but with conditions
Drive-thrus may have at one time been a controversial item on Sackville town council’s agenda, but after a public hearing by Tantramar council on Tuesday afternoon, it’s hard to argue that residents feel strongly one way or another on the issue.
No members of the public showed up for a public hearing on whether or not to lift the 22-year-old ban on new drive-thrus in the town’s highway commercial zones, and no comments were submitted online or by mail through Plan 360. Even the proponent of the bylaw amendment, Rashaid Tufail, owner of the former Pizza Delight building on Mallard Drive, didn’t make an appearance.
The final question on the proposed change will be decided by council in a three separate votes, likely happening over the next two regular council meetings in August and September.
The case for drive-thrus
There’s no indication yet of which way councillors are leaning, but planner Lori Bickford’s report outlines the case for supporting the bylaw change.
Bickford told council Tuesday that the amendments she put forward could address one of the main issues cited in 2001 when drive thrus were originally banned, which was concerns over traffic congestion and confusion at exit 504.
The amendments would allow for drive-thrus as a permitted use in highway commercial zones, but would include design standards and also a requirement for a traffic impact study to be conducted, paid for by the developer, and submitted to Plan 360.… Continue
Proposed dental clinic and apartments first to receive Tantramar’s development tax incentive, Lafford applies to become second
A $1.3 million dollar mixed-use building project for 35 Main Street will be the first project to receive an incentive in the form of a tax rebate from the new town of Tantramar, based on a policy passed in Sackville in March 2020.
A Moncton-based dental surgeon has plans for the vacant lot just uphill from Sackville town hall. Daniel Nachaat is listed as the director of the numbered company that bought the vacant property in 2021. This year, Nachaat’s company applied to the town’s economic development incentive program with a proposal for a three-storey development including a ground floor dental clinic, and two upper floors with a total of eight one-bedroom apartments.
The project is being managed by Dieppe-based real estate investment company Quest Capital and is the first ever development to apply for and be approved under the new incentive program, which offers property owners a 50% or more tax rebate over 5 or 10 years, for commercial, industrial or multi-unit residential projects.
The Quest Properties project is estimated at costing $1.3 million, and without the incentive program, would bring in an additional $25,000 per year in taxes for the municipality. With the incentive program in place, more than half of that potential tax revenue, about $72,000 over the first five years, will stay with Nachaat’s company.… Continue
Public opinion divided on Lafford building proposal
Developer John Lafford plans to start construction on a new apartment building behind the historic Fisher House by mid-July.
Lafford made the statement at a public hearing before Tantramar Council concerning two proposed zoning bylaw changes that would make way for his development, a six-storey, 71-unit apartment building at 131 Main Street.
Council didn’t discuss or debate the amendments after the hearing on Tuesday afternoon, but will have a chance to do so at their next regular meeting on July 11.
Before Lafford can proceed, his requested amendments need to pass three readings in council, taking place over at least two meetings. The next regular meeting after July 11 is scheduled for August 8, but council also has the ability to call a special meeting at any time.
‘A divisive issue in our community’
The gallery of Tantramar council chambers was packed with over 40 people for the public hearing on Tuesday.
Plan 360 planner Lori Bickford started by laying out the case for the amendments, which would rezone part of the property and then amend that zone to allow for taller buildings up to 65 feet in height. Bickford included a site plan in her presentation, but did not present renderings of what the building would look like in context, a point of concern raised early on by some residents.… Continue
Public hearing Tuesday over zoning changes to make way for six-storey apartment building
On Tuesday, Tantramar residents will have an opportunity to weigh in on two proposed zoning by-law changes that if approved, would make way for a six-storey building next to Mount Allison’s Normandy Field, and overlooking the Sackville Waterfowl Park. The public hearings on the changes take place during council’s committee of the whole meeting at 3pm Tuesday at Sackville town hall.
Local developer John Lafford is proposing to build a 71-unit apartment building behind the historic Fisher House at 131 Main Street. Currently, the property is not zoned for apartment buildings, and so Lafford has applied to rezone a portion of the property to the R3 zone which allows for larger apartment buildings. But the R3 zone alone is not enough for the project to go forward. Lafford has also requested an amendment to the R3 zone, changing the allowable building height from 50 feet to 65 feet. If that amendment is approved, it will affect all R3 properties in Sackville, including over 100 acres of other properties located outside the downtown core, mostly surrounded by single residential zones.
On Tuesday, Plan 360 planner Lori Bickford will make presentations on the two proposed amendments, and then members of the public will have a chance to weigh in, with five minutes allowed for each speaker. Members of council will have the opportunity to ask questions, in order to make sure they understand both the application and any arguments in favour or against.… Continue
Possible zoning change to increase allowable height on 108+ acres in Sackville
Correction: A previous version of this story identified one 3.5 acre property on Charlotte Street as vacant in error. The story and chart have been edited to reflect correct information. June 8, 2023, 8:30am
Two public hearings on proposed zoning changes are slated to happen at the end of this month, during Tantramar council’s June 27 committee of the whole meeting.
Approval of both changes would make way for a plan by developer John Lafford to build a six-storey building in the back half of the property at 131 Main Street, current home to the historic Joseph F Allison house, built in about 1841.
In order to make his plan work, Lafford is asking council to rezone the back half of the property to R3, the zone for high density residential development in Sackville’s by-law. At the same time, he’s asking council to change the definition of the R3 zone, to increase the height limit for buildings there from 50 feet to 65 feet. Lafford says he needs the extra height to make the proposed concrete building feasible. “You need scale in order to do what we’re going to do there,” he told CHMA.
But the change that Lafford is requesting won’t just affect the height allowance on his property at 131 Main Street. It will also change the rules for all properties throughout the former town of Sackville which fall under the R3 zone.… Continue
Former CAO Jamie Burke goes back to his planning roots with Stantec, ‘nothing but positive things to say’ about time in Sackville
Since January, former Sackville CAO Jamie Burke has been working for Stantec as Atlantic Lead in Urban Planning based out of the company’s Moncton office. It’s a job that could one day land Burke back working for Tantramar, as a contracted consultant.
CHMA spoke to Burke in February, to find out about his new position, and what it was like leaving his old one behind. We asked Burke what kind of projects he might be working on as an urban planning consultant:
Stantec’s business in Atlantic Canada is driven by public sector clients, says Burke, including municipalities, and provincial and federal government departments and agencies. “A lot of municipalities, both big and small, have a variety of planning documents,” says Burke, “whether it’s new municipal plans, official plans, zoning bylaws, or other types of regulatory documents that dictate how land can and cannot be used. So that’s one area where Stantec is around to help.”
And Plan 360—the planning department of the Southeast Regional Service Commission which is responsible for everything from processing building permits and rezoning requests, to writing municipal and regional plans—may need that help. When Tantramar was formed, the former town of Sackville’s 2015 municipal plan was already overdue for a review. Now the expanded municipality is in need of a new plan that will encompass two former municipalities and previously unincorporated districts.… Continue