Committee Approves Three-Building Development On York Street
FREDERICTON—Development plans for 390 York Street are headed for council in January. The proposal by York Street Properties passed Fredericton PAC Wednesday evening.
The company wants to develop the remaining piece of former railway lands with mixed-use and high-rise residential housing. The project is made up of three buildings, with 293 units to the south and east of the liquor store.
This required rezoning to allow more than one building on a lot and variances for lot area and building height.
The project will include a seven-story mixed-use building with commercial space on the ground of York Street and two ten-story apartment buildings with two levels of indoor parking. Vehicles will access the sites with a driveway aligned with Argyle Street.
“The proposal is in keeping with the growth strategy that targets the large site around the train station as one of the key areas for higher densities within the south core with potentials for building up to ten stories in height,” read Tony Dakiv, Fredericton city planner.
Councillor Cassandra Blackmore raised some questions. She asked how the new development will affect traffic on Argyle and if a single intersection is safer than two.
“You want to kind of maintain control on a route like that and provide a consistent expectation for road users and pedestrians, making a single intersection helps on both those aspects,” said Brendan McPhee of CBCL Limited.
A traffic study he conducted found that 1,000 vehicles come through York Street every hour in the morning and 1,200 vehicles in the afternoon.
Farhad Rezaei Noei, a member of the committee and architect, said this building will undermine the liquor store and he fears it is too crowded.
“I believe it’s going to be a mess, especially in the winter,” said Noei, “I’m not comfortable with that, it’s too many people, too many cars and one entrance.”
None of the units will be designed as affordable housing.
“If I use the CMHC definition of affordable, 1163 of those are affordable, that’s 88% of our units are affordable. We also have 39 social housing units — that’s another 3%. So I really think we’re doing our part without this building being considered,” said Craig McElroy of Colpitts developments, who was representing York Street properties.
He said that the best way to solve the problem of affordable housing was with more apartments so that the lower-income apartment is freed up when people move up.
“I do have to challenge the trickle-down approach has not worked, has not worked in lowering homelessness,” said Valerya Edelman, a social worker in downtown Fredericton.
She urged the PAC to recommend this development include some affordable housing units.
Issues like shadows from the building blocking properties and the consideration of cyclists were also raised.
Sharlene Keith lives at Aberdeen street and wrote a letter to the PAC committee about safety, homeowner, and environmental concerns.
“Aberdeen street has its problems with a lot of foot traffic and speeding cars and this has been an ongoing issue for years that’s never been dealt with,” said Keith.
Mark Darcy, a resident on Argyle Street, spoke about the importance of preserving the cross-town trail.
The final approval was moved by Councillor Blackmore, who made a motion to amend that traffic is limited to York Street access, and seconded by Fiona Williams.
“This is just step one in the process,” said Blackmore. “This will go to council on January 10th for first and second readings, so there will be another opportunity for people to voice their concerns.”
Rachel Smith is an intern with Huddle. Send her feedback and story suggestions: [email protected].