Moncton bylaw lets city cost-share some infrastructure with developers

A new Moncton bylaw would charge developerswhen the municipality buildsnew infrastructurein the city's east end that benefits those developers.

Council unanimously approved theHumphreys Brook development charge bylaw Monday and approved contracts to work on similar bylaws in other parts of the city.

TheHumphreys Brook bylawonly applies to a small area of the city's east endaround cole Champlain andHarrisville Boulevard.

Aneighbourhood plan approved by council five years ago calls for a new east-west road to link new subdivisions to Harrisville Boulevard.

The road, estimated to cost $3 million, would benefit landowners in the area seeking to build houses and apartment buildings along it.

"For a lot of that to happen in the future, this collector road out to Harrisville Boulevard needs to be established," Bill Budd, the city's director of planning and development, told councillors.

Monctonpassed its first development charge bylawin 2020 for an area in the city's north end. It was expected to be a model for similar bylaws covering other parts of the city.

The bylaw uses a formula that accounts for factors like the size of the properties and housing density to determine how much developers would pay.

Budd said properties inone area would share the costof a road,culvert, and new turning lanes and traffic lights on Harrisville Boulevard. Another area would see properties owners only pay forthe traffic lights.

The bylaw doesn't apply to land purchased by Robert Irving and Cavendish Farmswhere developmenthad been expected.

For the new east-west road, Budd said a developer could build it with a payment from the city, or the city could build it with the developers paying later.

The city held discussions with landowners prior to bringing the bylaw forward.No one spoke for or against the bylaw at the public hearing before council voted to approve it Monday.

Budd noted that some properties where development is expected are close to the Humphreys Brook Trail. He said the city may want to negotiate larger green space buffers on those parcels as plans for developmentcome forward.

Coun. Shawn Crossman, who represents the east end of the city, said residents of the area have been frustrated with a lack of connections out of the growing Grove Hamlet neighbourhood.

"The residents are extremely frustrated that there is no second way out of lower Grove Hamlet and this development charge will allow for a street to be developed that will take it out to Harrisville Boulevard and allow people easier access in and out of the area," Crossman said.

A staff report about the bylaw said the public hearing could see residents complaining aboutspeeding, noise and dust related to construction activity.

Councillors also voted Monday to lay the groundwork for development charge bylaws in two other parts of the city.

Watson & Associates was awarded contracts totalling $85,000 to update the city's municipal plan for the area known as the Vision Lands and prepare fordevelopment charges in that area.

The Vision Lands isa large, mostly wooded area of the city between the Trans-Canada Highway, Wheeler Boulevard, Mapleton Road andMcLaughlin Road.

The same firm was awarded a $40,000 contract for a help the city prepare adevelopment chargefor the area between Worthington Avenue and Mountain Road.

Few details were offered about that, with astaff report saying it was brought up because of "future anticipated development behind the Northwest [Plaza] and a proposed realignment of the intersection at Worthington Avenue and Killam Drive."

Northwest Plaza is off Mountain Road near the New Brunswick Community College.