At a crossroads

Alberton council to investigate communal-type housing

Alberton town councillors found themselves at a crossroads between population growth and policy during their monthly meeting this week.

Council was asked to decide on two separate applications for communaltype housing. Members ended up shelving both applications until next month so that they can get some input from the town planner.

It was the first time council received even one application for communal housing.

Chief administrative officer Susan Wallace-Flynn said such housing is not currently covered in the Town Plan.

“It needs a zone we don’t have,” she advised councillors.

It was the first of the applications that set the tone for the discussion, though. It came from Westech Agriculture, a strawberry plant farming operation located in town.

Before the discussion turned to the town plan, councillors Blair Duggan and Rosetta Tremblay expressed a desire to learn whether the farmworkers who would live there would have access to proper facilities, including washrooms, showers and dining facilities. Tremblay expressed a willingness to work with the farm to make it happen but stressed “they have to co-operate, too.”

Council recalled dealing with the farm in the past on environmental issues.

“Where does this all lead to?” asked Coun. David Cahill.

He said the farm has not always complied with town directives.

“It would be a shame to have them people living somewhere (other than in town),” Duggan commented, but he agreed the town has a responsibility to insure the facilities meet building codes.

The second request was from Nicole Rayner, who is proposing to turn the former Dean’s Flooring building at 472 Church St. into multiple occupancy units – 16 single bedroom units spread over two levels with shared shower and kitchen facilities.

Cahill expressed zoning concerns and asked where the parking would be for the tenants.

“Maybe it’s time to look into this,” commented Duggan, reflecting on the receipt of two such requests in the same month.

In agreeing to a suggestion that the applications be shelved until the town planner visits, Mayor Mike Murphy asked that councillors be prepared to provide input at that time.

Also delayed for further consideration was an application for a 48-by-eight foot deck with built-in wheelchair ramp in front of the JC Handyman and Sidewalk Grill premises along Main Street.

Councillors want measurements to determine whether the deck would impede pedestrian traffic and snow-clearing operations before making a decision.