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speakup

Campbellton - A proposed development by a Campbellton businessman has run into logistical problems.

Marcelin Lagace had appeared before city council on April 15 to ask for a rezoning of property in the city's east end to allow for a 10-unit building. Currently the section of St. Peter St. is zoned to allow for single family dwellings, not multi-family dwellings, such as an apartment building.

But the problem Lagace faces is not in the rezoning, it's in the infrastructure. He said at the April 15 meeting that he needs the water and sewer lines extended from nearby Pond St. to allow for the building.

However, the cost to the city of running those lines is in the vicinity of $300,000 which the Community Planning and Housing Committee thought was too high when it met April 29.

A relatively new city policy is that for developers wanting to build in the city, they must pay for the infrastructure work –water, sewer, streets, streetlights, etc. –and not count on the city to pay for those things. However, because the St. Peter project is planned for an area already deemed a subdivision (some on the committee said it dates back to the 1930s) the city could still be responsible for doing the work.

Committee members said that receiving $8,000 per year in tax revenue on a $500,000 project like this would take more than 30 years to recoup the cost of doing the infrastructure work. Some felt that by doing the work, it would open up even more work if other parts of St. Peter St. are developed, meaning the city would be on the hook to pay for that infrastructure as well.

It was moved that city engineer Andre Bernard would meet with Lagace again to discuss the cost. One option would be that the city split the cost with Lagace, at about $150,000 each.

Another opinion voiced was whether a 10-unit building would suit the area well, when currently there no buildings of that nature in the vicinity, only single family homes.