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 Fall River, councillors were concerned that there was no traffic study with the proposal, and quizzed HRM Planner Thea Langille about that.
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.
“I won’t 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,” said Langille.
She said the process for an amendment to meet the necessary requirement for the site began in Jan. 2017.
Langille said a proposed public access road onto Cummings Drive will not be needed; however it will be one used for emergency access only.
Councillor Lisa Blackburn was on the fence with what she was hearing.
“There’s so much that is right with this and there’s so much that I still need answered,” she said. “I’m concerned because there is no traffic study included in this presentation.
“Is that something that is coming later? What is the timeline on this, and when can we get some answers about traffic impact?”
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.
“No permits can be issued if the traffic study isn’t done,” said Langille. “A 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.
“What 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’re not in a situation where we don’t know what the circumstances are.”
Blackburn asked if a more detailed traffic study would be coming, and Langille said yes there would be one.
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.
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.
Councillor Steve Craig questioned the traffic study and the implications of those.
“At what threshold does that cause something to be done or not done, or if you don’t do this you can’t do this?” he asked. “At what point do you say the traffic is so bad here that if you put it onto Fall River Road then we just won’t accept it.”
Langille started her response by saying it was a good question, and one she was unsure if she had all the answers to.
“It might be something I have to followup and answer at the public hearing,” she said. “I have to dialogue with our traffic staff to get a better understanding of what those trigger points might be, if there are any.”
She said the development is trying to minimize the need for people to travel outside it for any services they require.
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.
“I see my neighbours move away because we just don’t have anything here for them to go,” said Carr.
Christine Mirabelli said a more recent traffic study, not one from 2013, should be done.
“A 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,” said Mirabelli. “With possibly 400 new cars entering and exiting Fall River Road, the traffic control issues will balloon.”
Alan Joyce was curious how many people—councillors included—had read the report. He also was not impressed that the public participation portion was not before councillors voted on the presentation.
“We have some concerns with what we read and we wanted an opportunity to influence your vote by having the participation before your vote,” he said.
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.
After some discussion, councillors voted unanimously to send staff’s recommendation on the proposal to regional council.
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’t be held until at the very earliest late February.
