Moncton Developer Shrinks Building Plan Amid Resident Pushback
MONCTON — A Moncton developer is considering scaling down a proposed ten-storey building on the Northwest corner of Vaughan Harvey Boulevard and Main Street.
During a Moncton city council meeting this week, city planner Bill Budd explained to councillors that developers might consider scaling down the size of their proposed commercial and residential building.
“There is a section on flexibility in height and, I just want to mention, the developers have indicated that they may be open to reducing the height of the building. The plan building design would remain the same, but they might be open to reducing from ten to six,” he said.
Budd stipulated if it were to be reduced to six storeys, the residential portion would include at least 90 or 95 units.
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Councillor Daniel Bourgeois questioned this reconsideration.
“When I asked this question three weeks ago … the developer was very adamant that if it wasn’t ten storeys the project wouldn’t be feasible. What changed, if anything, between three weeks ago [and now] that would reverse his position, being so adamant to ten storeys to now being flexible to six?”
Chad Blakney, the developer behind the project, said he and his team “listened to the community.” He explained that they initially bought the land with the idea of building a ten-storey tower.
“We’ve invested a lot in the land and we ran our financial model on a ten-storey building. We are running the numbers now for a six-storey building. We probably would have paid something different for the land if, initially, we were looking at a six-storey building. We want to listen to the community and we don’t want to be demonized. If the numbers make sense, we can proceed that route over ten storeys,” Blakney said.
When the project was first proposed, several residents from surrounding neighbourhoods raised concerns about the proposed building’s height, the traffic it would create, construction noise, and the shadows it would cast.
Budd said the developers finished a shadow study to see how the hourly progression of the sun affects the site and found that only two neighbouring properties would be affected, and only for about two hours a day.
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Councillor Paulette Theriault said she is disappointed by possible changes to the proposal.
“Having lived in larger cities, these are beautiful buildings and there must be a way that we can grow gardens and find plants that will thrive in some shade. I’m looking at the three sisters and they’re beautiful, the height. This is about downtown living. I really would like to see in our city, encouraging and supporting developers that come with these really beautiful projects,” Paulette said.
Mayor Dawn Arnold also expressed her support for this project. She said she has been in many meetings recently about housing and accommodation and that it would be a shame to see this project reduced.
Moncton City Council unanimously approved the rezoning of the land that will allow the development to move ahead.
Tara Clow is the news director with 91.9 The Bend in Moncton, a Huddle content partner.