A rendering of one of the townhouses proposed as part of an expansion by Sea Street Manor in Saint John. (Image submitted)
As a west Saint John special care home looks to expand, some nearby residents want city councillors to have more say on landscaping plans.
Sea Street Manor on Sea Street is seeking a rezoning to add an additional 18-unit special care home and a 33-unit townhouse development.
Common Council held a public hearing Monday night as part of the approval process. City staff and the planning advisory committee (PAC) have recommended that the rezoning be approved.
Two nearby residents spoke about the project during the nearly 45-minute hearing, including Colleen Gallant, who lives on Beaconsfield Avenue.
Gallant said landscaping for developments such as this must become part of the city’s bylaws if it is not already. She referenced a section of PlanSJ municipal plan which “encourages the use of native species or vegetation for landscaping in private and public development.”
“I believe developers need more than encouragement. I think developers should be mandated to use native species in their landscaping plans and I think a knowledge base should be designed to explain the whys and how-to’s around such a policy,” said Gallant.
Landscaping needs to become more than just an afterthought, she said, adding there is a big opportunity for the city to raise the bar of expectation when it comes to landscape planning and development.
Gallant said purposeful landscaping that respects the cultural geography of an area is what makes neighbourhoods desirable, livable and valuable.
“You have the power before shovels hit the ground to help shape neighbourhoods to be not only beautiful but inspirational,” she said.
Gallant said council should also look at designating the money accepted in lieu of lands for public purposes to be spent in the vicinity of the site.
She suggested the money be used to plant native species of trees down both sides of Sea Street and improving parking at Bayshore Beach, among other things.
Coun. Greg Norton said council need to use “what teeth they have” to direct a developer to look at specific species of plants and shrubs.
“We don’t leave that up to a subcontractor that’s going to work with somebody else to just boxwoods everywhere, as nice as they are. We need to do it so that the existing development compliments exactly what constituents are asking for in that area,” said Norton.
Senior planner Mark Reade said the municipal plan does not get down to species in detail, noting they typically leave it up to developers to choose species that work well in this climate.
City manager John Collin said staff will return to council with suggestions to “tighten up the language” in the amended staff recommendations and impose additional requirements in time for third reading of the rezoning application.
Several residents also wrote to the city about losing a “well-known and well-used neighbourhood trail” that passes through the site from Beaconsfield Avenue heading south. According to Reade, the trail in question was developed by the community with knowledge of the applicant.
“I understand that this trail is on previously undeveloped private land, but I think that it should be considered in the development of the area,” Cara Cole wrote in a letter to the planning advisory committee.
PAC has recommended that staff review the potential for the development of off-street trails in the area along with the implementation timeline for the Neighbourhood Connector recommended for the area in the Trails and Bikeways Master Plan.
Reade said both recommendations will be forwarded to the MoveSJ team for incorporation.
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