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Fredericton city council has approved a six-bedroom, 147-unit apartment development despite concerns from some councilors about a lack of jobs for the area.
The building is planned for Duncan Lane, a neighborhood with mostly detached houses, no sidewalks and no public transport links.
Ward 12 Count. Henrii Mallet raised his concerns at Monday night’s meeting, saying he was worried about whether enough attention was being given to capital investments when planning development.
“I understand the need for housing in our city and pressure with the rate of opportunity we currently have in the city,” he said. “But I believe the application is premature as we have limited information at this time.”
He said such development requires the right infrastructure to support the building intended for the established community, which currently does not exist.
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To catch a bus, one must cross Prospect Street, which is a four-lane road. The building will also be built on a blind hill and traffic coming off Prospect often goes at a high rate of speed.
Some of those items were cited in letters of objection submitted to the city’s planning advisory board.
Mallet said there also needs to be more attention to how the community can help improve traffic in the area.
Fellow Ward 1 Councilor Margo Sheppard agreed that the motion should have been tabled until further discussion on the development.
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“This is 147 units that (going) to a place with no crossing, no roads and in part it is a great idea… it is difficult but the developer builds the apartment building not necessarily to build the works.”
Teach. Cassandra LeBlanc also seconded Mallet’s motion to table it for further discussion, which ultimately prevailed.
Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hart said he understood Mallet’s concerns.
“There is a need for the city to better align capital infrastructure with growth areas,” he said. “I understand that our history is not great and our track record may not be what we want to see.”
Hart explained that he intends to have a long-term financial plan as part of the budget in the fall, which should help describe investment for capital infrastructure.
He said that while there should be an ambitious plan for the next five years, he could not provide anything specific on Duncan Lane.
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