Almost 200 apartment units denied by council

Speed of development, infrastructure issues among concerns raised

A request to make way for a 192-unit apartment building will have to come back next year after a Charlottetown council vote.

Council voted 7-3 at its March 12 meeting to deny a request for rezoning land at 160 Fairdale Dr. in East Royalty.

The property in question has been under development for nearly a decade, which raised questions in the council chamber about switching gears before completion. The land is already zoned residential; the developers wanted to increase density.

Councillors Norman Beck, Alanna Jankov and Trevor Mackinnon voted to allow the project, while the other seven voted against.

Coun. Terry Bernard, who was on council when the neighbourhood started growing, suggested work was never finished on the homes originally planned for the subdivision.

“For me, it’s a little premature. The subdivision itself is not 50 per cent completed. This is what the public agreed with. This is what council agreed with, and I’m a little hesitant to go in and start changing things. … I think it's too early. I think there’s still opportunity there for senior complexes to go up.”

The planning department report for this project, which is included in the monthly meeting package, shares some of Bernard’s concerns.

The report says the proposal would rezone the land to make way for six apartment buildings, each containing 36 units.

“However, the size of the property may permit up to 213 units provided that the minimum parking requirements under the zone can be met in future.”

Despite this, the report recommends the project go forward.

Coun. Julie Mccabe, who is the councillor for the East Royalty area, suggested the neighbourhood is growing faster than infrastructure and services. There is no grocery store, while streetlights and other services have fallen behind, she said.

Things are moving at such a pace that one company has already begun advertising condos in the neighbourhood – before council had even voted, Mccabe said.

“So everybody’s moving really fast. That wasn’t a real vote of confidence with the residents, let me tell you,” she said. “That might be putting the cart before the horse.”

Stormwater management is another issue, Mccabe said.

“We’ve had issues with sediment running into our stormwater management in the last little while that they’re trying to work on now, which tells us that we’re being a little overloaded with the systems that we have out there.”

Ultimately, Mccabe said she supports the development but not at the present time. Instead of proposing a deferral, though, she suggested council vote against the project, which sets a one-year limit on re-applying.

The Feb. 21 planning department report noted residents in the area shared some of these concerns about more density and the impact on residential development.

“There is less chance that seniors housing, community care or nursing homes would be built at this location should the requested rezoning be approved,” the report said.