With the addition of a new school in the North End of Moncton off Maplehurst Drive, some residents are fighting against a high density residential development planned for the area.
Andrew Mackinnon has lived on Teaberry Avenue for about seven years, and spoke against the proposal at Moncton City Council last night.
He says the plans show a clear lack of respect from the developer, and make no effort to minimize the impact of the development on adjacent homeowners.
“Every negative high density development that’s part of that plan is immediately adjacent to existing residents,” exclaims Mackinnon. “Even though they’re dealing with a 60 acre plot of land where they could easily have put those inside the development.”
Enid Egers has lived in the neighbourhood for 25 years, and is concerned about the density of tall apartment buildings overshadowing existing properties on Ryan Street.
She isn’t against development in general, but the lack of a buffer between old and new buildings is just one example of a lack of respect from the developer.
“I thought there was, but then when looking at it today there is no buffer from Ryan [Street], so if you build in this residential area, you’re butting up right against the acreages of land on Ryan,” says Egers.
She collected 133 signatures on a petition over the last few weeks after residents received notices of the proposed changes early this month.
Of all the people she spoke to, Egers says only 10 supported the development as it stands right now, or had no opinion on the subject.
Mackinnon summed up the attitudes of many of the protesting residents by saying “there’s a better way, it might cost the developer a bit more to go in that direction, and no one’s trying to stop development, but this is not the way to do it.
Meanwhile, Moncton City Council voted unanimously to table the motion so city staff and the developer could try to reach a compromise or find a way to address the concerns of residents.
Mackinnon’s reaction? “I’m thrilled that our council tabled it and I hope they continue to push back on this until we get a development that makes sense for the area.”
