Noise worries residents near apartment development

Topsail Road property will offer 120 units; construction slated to begin in spring 2014

An increase in noise appears to be one of the main concerns for St. John’s residents who can expect to have many more neighbours once a 120-unit apartment building opens in 2015.

Last month, St. John’s city council approved an application from Killam Properties to build a sixstorey apartment building at 485 Topsail Road on almost two hectares of land. The land is located directly across from a Lawton’s Drugs outlet.

The apartment building will border the backyards of several homes on Holbrook Avenue. Several residents of the street took advantage of the opportunity to ask questions about the development at a public meeting Thursday evening organized by Ward 3 Coun. Bruce Tilley.

Also present for the meeting were Killam Properties vice-president of development Michael McLean and Jeffry Haggett from the engineering consulting firm Genivar Inc.

Jacqueline Power and Janet Pre- ston, both residents of Holbrook Avenue, expressed specific concerns about the apartment’s impact on noise in their neighbourhood, which is situated in the west end of Newfoundland and Labrador’s capital city.

The area also features several restaurants and large retail stores, including the Village Shopping Centre, Wal-Mart, and Sobeys.

Power wondered whether some tenants will own large trucks, and Preston suggested rooftop garden parties, loud motorcycles and garage doors opening and closing will prove to be a nuissance to local residents.

McNeil suggested the new apartment building will be particularly attractive to seniors judging from who is moving into its newly opened Bennett House complex in Pleasantville, which has mostly attracted tenants from that demographic. He added that some young professionals are also moving into the latter property.

As for the rooftop areas, Haggett said those will only be accessible to the tenants of two penthouse suites on the roof.

The current design for the apartment building was changed from an earlier design that involved the construction of two buildings. It’s now set to form an L-shape.

The distance from the nearest home to each edge of the building will remain 29 metres under the latest design, but Haggett said the L-shape does allow each corner to be shifted further away from the mid-point between the homes on Holbrook Avenue bordering the building.

Power also brought up the issue of traffic in the area. Tilley said the city is in the middle of conducting a traffic study for the taking into account the impact of the new apartment building and the new west end high school being built in the area.

As for stormwater management, Haggett said a plan is in place to deal with that issue.

McLean said construction for the apartment building will commence next spring with an eye towards opening at the end of 2015.