Moncton Council Rejects Skipper Jacks’ Expansion Plan
MONCTON – City councillors followed staff recommendation, and voted against Skipper Jacks Restaurant’s expansion plan after a public hearing Monday night.
In August, the Planning Advisory Committee also recommended the city not to move forward with the plan.
The plan proposes to re-designate a portion of land at 211 Mapleton Road from community use to mixed-use centres and corridors in the municipal plan. The amendment would then allow the property to be rezoned from community use zone and open space and conservation zone to suburban commercial.
In addition to an expansion of the parking lot, the plan would add 240 square feet on the restaurant’s west side, and 200 square feet on the north side. To do so, the restaurant would fill part of a ravine and put a 4o metre culvert through Rabbit Brook.
The City received 31 expressions of objections from residents who were concerned about wildlife habitat and climate change, and two letters of support for the plan.
Six of those who object spoke at the hearing Monday, with some also offering alternative solutions such as encouraging street parking, and implementing active transportation.
The speakers, including Petitcodiac River Keepers founding director Ronald Babin, former federal and provincial Green Party candidate Claire Kelly, Symbiose’s Antoine Zboralski and entrepreneur Krysta Cowling argued from many angles, including that Rabbit Brook is part of a larger ecosystem and wildlife habitat. They also reminded councillors of Moncton’s declaration of climate emergency last year.
“Last April in 2019, you affirmed that we had to stop adding greenhouse gases to the environment, and you made commitments to reduce them, you adopted targets to reduce our target reductions,” Zboralski said in French, noting that more parking lots would mean more cars, and thus, more greenhouse gas emissions. “So I would invite the municipal council to meet its commitments and to try and achieve those targets sooner rather than later.”
Hafsah Ayub, a local activist, read the words of Lanie Porter, a Mi’kmaq resident of Moncton who could not attend the hearing.
“We are on unceeded M’ikmaq territory, these lands are not yours to destroy,” she said. “We need to think about the many thousands of species that live in this current environment and how they’re all connected. The state of our lands and what this will do to these species.”
A $50,000 Process
Skipper Jacks owner Robert Holmes said he has spent $50,000 on the project to comply with conditions from the City, and that the process has been long and “tormenting.”
He says the business has been at that location for 15 years and wants to expand because its customer base has grown. Some residents in the area have also complained about parking issues. While he’s open to adding bike racks, he says it doesn’t feel right for customers to have to park across the street at Walmart and walking to Skipper Jacks.
In addition, the restaurant needs more space because Covid-19 restrictions have cut its seating by 35 per cent.
“It’s very hard for a restaurant to succeed, losing 35 percent of their seating,” he said. “It’s critical for our proposed changes to materialized for Skipper Jacks to be competitive, and maintain success and the viability of our business.”
He said he was under the impression back in 2018 that he would see a positive outcome, but Director of Urban Planning Bill Budd maintains that Holmes was warned it would be a difficult sell as the development doesn’t align with the municipal plan that includes watercourse protection, and an objective of integrating natural features in the community.
Budd reiterated that on Monday, saying “the development proposal conflicts with councils policies that were put in place to protect watercourses, including Rabbit Brook. And for this reason, the administration cannot support the request.”
Holmes said he cares about the environment, too, and is willing to spend money to ensure the development doesn’t make a destructive impact. That includes adding fish baffles in the culvert to allow fish to use the waterway, despite studies conducted by consultants showing there’s no fish in that brook.
Environmental engineer Andrea Kalafut of Hive Engineering, who has been hired to consult Holmes, said because there are many culverts along the watercourse already installed in the past, adding one more wouldn’t create a significant impact.
“For the most part, the damage has been done since all the development that has occurred in that area,” she said.
She admits that there will still be an impact on the environment, but says, “the question we have to ask ourselves is, are we doing everything we can to mitigate the impact as much as possible? And what other things can we do to impact the environment? Because development ultimately is going to occur.”
Unfortunately, she says while alternatives to the culvert option exist, the expertise isn’t yet available here, and it’s not economically viable for now.
“So this was kind of that middle ground of, ‘okay, let’s come up with a system and an approach that will keep the environment as undisturbed as possible, but still making the project feasible,” she said.
City staff had prepared 17 conditions for Holmes to comply had councillors approved the expansion plan.
City Manager Marc Landry says the decision means it’s back to the drawing board between the City and Holmes. There remain many outstanding land matters that have to be resolved between the parties.
The restaurant’s expansion plans had started back in 2007 and a series of legal back-and-forth followed. The City owes the owner parking space after expropriating six-to-eight spots in 2008, for the eventual expansion of Mapleton road. The city built the trail in 2016.
The landowners were also supposed to build a parkette by 2012 after they purchased the land. However, that didn’t happen, so they owe the city money. In July, city planner Bill Budd says they would have to reimburse the city for the cost of developing the trail.
“As part of the process, the landowner would have to pay the city $30,000 which would have covered the city’s cost of building the trail and also release the city of obligation to provide replacement parking,” he said at the time.
Councillors encouraged making a decision with the long-term consequences in mind. While councillor Paulette Theriault agrees, she hopes local businesses won’t have to go through such a stressful process again.
“It’s not only embarrassing for the, for the entrepreneurs It’s embarrassing for us. But, and I’m really hoping we’re going to find a better way so that we don’t have to go through this again,” she said.
Mayor Dawn Arnold said Covid-19 has exposed the cracks in society, and it’s time to “build back better.”
“We have been asked to rezone something that was community use open space and conservation to suburban commercial. If we do something like that, where does that place all other conservation lands in our community? Nothing will be safe,” she said.
The motion to deny the expansion plan was opposed by Shawn Crossman, Brian Hicks, and Bryan Butler, while Councillor Paul Pellerin recused himself due to a conflict of interest.
RELATED: Moncton Planning Committee Denies Skipper Jacks’ Expansion Proposal
With files from Christina Mulherin, a reporter with 91.9 The Bend, a Huddle content partner.