{"id":9522,"date":"2019-01-16T20:00:48","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T00:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=9522"},"modified":"2019-01-16T20:00:48","modified_gmt":"2019-01-17T00:00:48","slug":"traffic-impact-remains-a-sticking-point-for-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=9522","title":{"rendered":"Traffic impact remains a sticking point for residents"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

FALL RIVER: <\/strong>The impact on traffic from the Carr Farm development on Fall River Road and the community in general continues to be a main sticking point for residents, as well as whether the multi-unit buildings will be for seniors only.<\/p>\n

At North West Community (NWCC) council on Jan. 14, held at Lockview High in Fall River, councillors were concerned that there was no traffic study with the proposal, and quizzed HRM Planner Thea Langille about that.<\/p>\n

Langille provided a brief summary of the proposal from GFC Management. It calls for five, four storey buildings on Opportunity Site B, also known as the Carr Farm property. It will be on 46 acres, with the possibility of adding four more acres on two additional properties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t go into the full details that I would do at a public hearing, but I will provide an overview of the project and some context with what has happened on this file over the past two years,\u201d said Langille.<\/p>\n

She said the process for an amendment to meet the necessary requirement for the site began in Jan. 2017.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Councillor Steve Streatch asks a question to HRM Planner Thea Langille during the Carr Farm Development presentation at North West Community Council, held Jan. 14 at Lockview High in Fall River. (Healey photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Langille said a proposed public access road onto Cummings Drive will not be needed; however it will be one used for emergency access only.<\/p>\n

Councillor Lisa Blackburn was on the fence with what she was hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much that is right with this and there\u2019s so much that I still need answered,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m concerned because there is no traffic study included in this presentation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that something that is coming later? What is the timeline on this, and when can we get some answers about traffic impact?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Councillor Lisa Blackburn is seen deep in thought as she listens to an answer at the meeting. (Healey photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Langille responded that the approach is similar to a development agreement, but is be specific to this site is not so much create a development agreement, but rather a zone that would allow for the development, with conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo permits can be issued if the traffic study isn\u2019t done,\u201d said Langille. \u201cA traffic study must be done, and if it indicates that there are impacts the developer has to show solutions to those in order to get those permits before they build the first building.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is unique in this particular area for Fall River is quite a few traffic studies have been done, so we have a pretty good base and understanding of what the potential concerns are. We\u2019re not in a situation where we don\u2019t know what the circumstances are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blackburn asked if a more detailed traffic study would be coming, and Langille said yes there would be one.<\/p>\n

Langille said the design that was presented on Jan. 14 has been available on the Halifax website for several months to allow the public to see the detailed renderings.<\/p>\n

There was some discussion around whether it could be marketed as seniors housing, to which Langille said that it could not as HRM cannot regulate that. A letter from the N.S. Human Rights Commission indicating that it can be marketed as that was read by Councillor Steve Streatch.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Councillor Steve Craig asks Planning staff about traffic issues. (Healey photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Councillor Steve Craig questioned the traffic study and the implications of those.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt what threshold does that cause something to be done or not done, or if you don\u2019t do this you can\u2019t do this?\u201d he asked. \u201cAt what point do you say the traffic is so bad here that if you put it onto Fall River Road then we just won\u2019t accept it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Langille started her response by saying it was a good question, and one she was unsure if she had all the answers to.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might be something I have to followup and answer at the public hearing,\u201d she said. \u201cI have to dialogue with our traffic staff to get a better understanding of what those trigger points might be, if there are any.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the development is trying to minimize the need for people to travel outside it for any services they require.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Sandra Carr spoke in the public participation portion of the meeting. She has been a die-hard working on bringing seniors housing to the area. (Healey photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sandra Carr spoke in the public participation portion of the meeting. She has been a die-hard working on bringing seniors housing to the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see my neighbours move away because we just don\u2019t have anything here for them to go,\u201d said Carr.<\/p>\n

Christine Mirabelli said a more recent traffic study, not one from 2013, should be done.<\/p>\n

\u201cA study should be required to be completed because without it HRM cannot ascertain what infrastructure will need to be in place at start-up to accommodate the large influx of population and vehicles,\u201d said Mirabelli. \u201cWith possibly 400 new cars entering and exiting Fall River Road, the traffic control issues will balloon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alan Joyce was curious how many people\u2014councillors included\u2014had read the report. He also was not impressed that the public participation portion was not before councillors voted on the presentation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have some concerns with what we read and we wanted an opportunity to influence your vote by having the participation before your vote,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Craig informed him there would be opportunities for him and others alike to let councillors know their viewpoint before the public hearing, should it get that far.<\/p>\n

After some discussion, councillors voted unanimously to send staff\u2019s recommendation on the proposal to regional council.<\/p>\n

If regional council passes it at first reading, which is expected to be on the agenda for its Jan. 29 meeting, then it will move to a public hearing which won\u2019t be held until at the very earliest late February.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FALL RIVER: The impact on traffic from the Carr Farm development on Fall River Road and the community in general continues to be a main sticking point for residents, as well as whether the multi-unit buildings will be for seniors only. At North West Community (NWCC) council on Jan. 14, held at Lockview High in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9525,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[210,2,121,57],"class_list":["post-9522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-carr-farm-development","tag-fall-river","tag-hrm","tag-steve-streatch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}