The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[MonctonRad]

I know this is off topic, but I could not figure out where to place it. The Moncton Flyers under 18 Hockey team won their semi-final game in the Cdn Midget under 18 championships. They play for the Cdn Championship on TSN 3/4 at 10:30 OR 11 pm tonight. I watched them as a kid, I really hope they win.

Good for them.

Bad timing for their game though. Doesn't this mean they will be playing at the same time as game #3 of the Calgary/Edmonton series???

[PEI highway guy]

Good for them.

Bad timing for their game though. Doesn't this mean they will be playing at the same time as game #3 of the Calgary/Edmonton series???

Yes, I believe the Battle of Alberta is on at the same time. My remote will be busy.

[PEI highway guy]

Moncton did win the national Championship in OT. 5-4

[MonctonRad]

After giving up two goals in the final minutes of the third period. It was pretty scary.

Congratulations to the Flyers!

[habs33]

City of Moncton and City of Charlottetown to Host Soccer Matches Between Sunderland AFC U23 and CF Montréal U23. The game in Moncton is August 5th

https://www5.moncton.ca/docs/media/2022/2022-06-02_RELEASE_Sunderland_COMMUNIQUE_Sunderland.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2ZgtAfGXHQYvtT8uaKDohyD9L8dTZv_-FgQ1avhVSXGNuuYix7ycxShqo

[MonctonRad]

These properties are proposed to receive heritage conservation designations bt the city of Moncton:

1. 27 Hillcrest Drive
The residence is a rare example of French Norman-inspired two-storey residential architecture designed and constructed by Frederick M. Lichtenberg in 1939. It is also significant for its association with the architect and prominent occupants.

2. 51 Highfield Street
The Former Moncton and Regional Public Library is recognized as an excellent example of institutional architecture from the Modern Movement in Moncton during the 1960s. It is also recognized for its association with the growth of the library system in Moncton.

3. 52 Donald Avenue
This is a well-preserved example of Craftsman residential architecture with Tudor Revival influences. The residence was constructed in 1919 by R.C. Donald, an influential developer in the history of the Town of Sunny Brae, now part of the City of Moncton.

4. 56 Steadman Street
The Tiferes Israel Synagogue is recognized for its architecture and significance to the Jewish community in Moncton. The design of the Synagogue was influenced by the Gothic Revival architectural style. As the first and only synagogue in Moncton, its importance to the Jewish community is significant, as is its location.

5. 100 West Street
The former Prince Edward School is recognized for its Neo-Classical architecture and impact on education in the City of Moncton. The formal, shallow entrance portico exhibits classic elements in sandstone, including a prominent pediment supported by an entablature and pilasters. Built in 1927, the building is also significant for its association with the City of Moncton’s educational history.

6. 204-206 Cameron Street
The R.N. Wyse Residence is recognized for its architectural, associative, and contextual value. Built in 1915, it reflects the prevalent early twentieth century trend in residential design that saw the combination of several architectural influences expressed in one structure, in this case the Queen Anne Revival, Greek Revival, Craftsman, and Four- Square styles. It is also significant for its association with several prominent Moncton businesspeople.

7. 224 Cameron Street
The Berry Residence is recognized for its architectural, associative and contextual value. Built in 1919, the residence is a good example of early twentieth century Craftsman residential architecture with Queen Anne Revival details. It is associated with Abram L. Berry, a farmer, carpenter and insurance salesman, who built this home with his sons. The resultant design is consistent with the grand architecture of other Craftsmanstyle structures built bordering Victoria Park during the same era.

8. 213 Bonaccord Street
The White Fathers African Mission building is recognized for its Gothic Revival architecture and association with its various occupants. It was built as a residence for William Powell, a surveyor for the Intercolonial Railway, circa 1889. The White Fathers used this location as a residence and as a Moncton headquarter for 50 years while educating and converting in the Middle East, Northern African and Central African regions.

[Mattyyy]

Would anybody have any idea as to how many cranes are up in the greater Moncton area?

[MonctonRad]

Would anybody have any idea as to how many cranes are up in the greater Moncton area?

Just off the top of my head, I think we have seven full fledged tower cranes currently operating in the city.

As for the "mini" tower cranes - oodles. Probably another 10 at least.

[Mattyyy]

Just off the top of my head, I think we have seven full fledged tower cranes currently operating in the city.

As for the "mini" tower cranes - oodles. Probably another 10 at least.

Thanks for the answer. Somebody was talking about this on the weekend and it was a difficult number to come up with!
:shrug:

[MonctonRad]

This is quite literally the only item on the July agenda for the Moncton PAC:

https://www5.moncton.ca/docs/pac/PAC/July_27_2022/4_a_870_Ryan.pdf

Somebody wants to dump fill on the lot at the SE corner of the Ryan/Amiens intersection in NW Moncton. :rolleyes:

To have this as the only item on the agenda is downright embarrassing! Construction in Moncton is busier than ever, but all that is happening is a catch-up on previously approved projects from the last couple of years. Nothing new is coming forward for approval.

There are lots of rumours out there of land assembly occurring for big projects, and for grand plans for numerous mid to high rise buildings to be built in the downtown, but nothing is coming forward for approval.

Town planning is probably aware of all this, but one has to wonder what the bottleneck is. Is it supply chain issues? Labour shortages? Inflation? Rising interest rates???

What gives?

[OliverD]

Not everything needs to go before PAC though, right?

[MonctonRad]

Not everything needs to go before PAC though, right?

True. It only goes to PAC if a variance is required.

That being said though, there are usually variances with larger projects (jogs, setbacks, number of entrances or windows etc). It is rare for a large project to fly completely under the radar.

[Monctoncore]

True. It only goes to PAC if a variance is required.

That being said though, there are usually variances with larger projects (jogs, setbacks, number of entrances or windows etc). It is rare for a large project to fly completely under the radar.

Dieppe seems to be a spot where they go under the radar very often. Though you are correct, it’s very rare that they do in Moncton, it’s been a very quiet few months, but I wonder if rising interest rates have something to do with it and inflation? I assume we will see stuff in August, there may be a lull because of the current amount of ongoing projects.

[C_Boy]

This is quite literally the only item on the July agenda for the Moncton PAC:

There are lots of rumours out there of land assembly occurring for big projects, and for grand plans for numerous mid to high rise buildings to be built in the downtown, but nothing is coming forward for approval.

Town planning is probably aware of all this, but one has to wonder what the bottleneck is. Is it supply chain issues? Labour shortages? Inflation? Rising interest rates???

What gives?

Every city department from public works, mechanical, planning, fire, and engineering are all short staff and/or understaffed. The city has been rapidly growing over the years but extra positions to keep up with services are not increasing. I'm told there are stacks of proposals waiting for approvals with no one to look at them unfortunately...including projects that are very very significant. Even skyline changing.

[Monctoncore]

Every city department from public works, mechanical, planning, fire, and engineering are all short staff and/or understaffed. The city has been rapidly growing over the years but extra positions to keep up with services are not increasing. There are stacks of proposals waiting for approvals with no one to look at them unfortunately...

This makes sense, it seems everywhere is experiencing the same issues.

[MonctonRad]

Every city department from public works, mechanical, planning, fire, and engineering are all short staff and/or understaffed. The city has been rapidly growing over the years but extra positions to keep up with services are not increasing. I'm told there are stacks of proposals waiting for approvals with no one to look at them unfortunately...including projects that are very very significant. Even skyline changing.

Very interesting. This jives with intelligence I have received that there are multiple proposals for mid to high rise buildings in central Moncton, more than ever seen before.

So, the choke point is in the city planning department. This explains why the PAC agendas recently have been so sparse. City planning receives the proposals, and performs an initial evaluation to determine if they are compliant, or if variances are necessary. When variances are required (usually yes for significant projects), then they are sent to PAC, and this is when these proposals become public.

This delay is extremely frustrating. It is slowing down development in the city, and, is also increasing the costs of these projects for the developers (inflation, worsening supply chain issues, rising interest rates). I would not be surprised if some projects are not just abandoned due to these delays. :hell:

I wonder if there could not be a change instituted in the process so that the most significant projects are prioritized for the overworked staff in the city planning department to attend to first. We use triage all the time in our hospitals. Maybe city planning should too........... :yes:

[MonctonRad]

Meanwhile, not all is doom and gloom. The T&T is reporting that $220M in building permits have been issued in the city for the first six months of this year.

https://tj.news/times-and-transcript/101920286 (paywall)

If this continues for the remainder of this year, and, if you also factor in Dieppe and Riverview, the CMA will see over $500M, and, perhaps over $600M in construction this year.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/resized.images.us-east-1.tj.news/1272387/desktop/policestationjune72022_0.jpg
Construction of new Codiac Regional RCMP headquarters (T&T photo(

[CreamOfpumpkin]

I work in conjunction with the Moncton, Dieppe, and regional development offices and they are very much understaffed. I dont know for sure but I would guesstimate the Moncton development department is no more than 6-8 people. Dieppe may have less than 5, and the regional offices 1-2 employees.
To think the cities make money for every permit, variance, and right of way they process. I would think if there are jobs on the table it would be in their best interest to hire more permitting officers.

[MonctonRad]

Ranking of the best "small" cities in Canada. Both Moncton and Freddy make the list.

https://www.bestcities.org/rankings/canadas-best-small-cities/

[josh_cat_eyes]

I work in conjunction with the Moncton, Dieppe, and regional development offices and they are very much understaffed. I dont know for sure but I would guesstimate the Moncton development department is no more than 6-8 people. Dieppe may have less than 5, and the regional offices 1-2 employees.
To think the cities make money for every permit, variance, and right of way they process. I would think if there are jobs on the table it would be in their best interest to hire more permitting officers.

We should let the city know that this forum could be a group member :haha:

[adamuptownsj]

Very interesting. This jives with intelligence I have received that there are multiple proposals for mid to high rise buildings in central Moncton, more than ever seen before.

So, the choke point is in the city planning department. This explains why the PAC agendas recently have been so sparse. City planning receives the proposals, and performs an initial evaluation to determine if they are compliant, or if variances are necessary. When variances are required (usually yes for significant projects), then they are sent to PAC, and this is when these proposals become public.

This delay is extremely frustrating. It is slowing down development in the city, and, is also increasing the costs of these projects for the developers (inflation, worsening supply chain issues, rising interest rates). I would not be surprised if some projects are not just abandoned due to these delays. :hell:

I wonder if there could not be a change instituted in the process so that the most significant projects are prioritized for the overworked staff in the city planning department to attend to first. We use triage all the time in our hospitals. Maybe city planning should too........... :yes:

As a (very) small-scale developer, the concept of triaging based on estimating cost sounds a little unfair! We pay taxes too, lol. First-in, first-out should apply. Small and low-cost projects are more likely to actually come to fruition, require less complicated review processes, fewer zoning changes, etc. I'd be furious to have, say, a three-townhouse development on appropriately-zoned land, delayed indefinitely by PAC/staff because someone else proposed something else that would cost more to build.

[MonctonRad]

We should let the city know that this forum could be a group member :haha:

As long as no privileged information is made public, then there should be no limitation to free speech.

[MonctonRad]

As a (very) small-scale developer, the concept of triaging based on estimating cost sounds a little unfair! We pay taxes too, lol. First-in, first-out should apply.

I completely understand where you are coming from, and, in most cases, I imagine small projects will make it through the approval process much more quickly too.

On the other hand, major projects with values in the tens of millions of dollars could have outsized importance to the future of the city, and, should be given some form of expedited consideration.

The real solution of course is to make sure any staffing issues in the planning department are addressed ASAP.

[adamuptownsj]

I completely understand where you are coming from, and, in most cases, I imagine small projects will make it through the approval process much more quickly too.

On the other hand, major projects with values in the tens of millions of dollars could have outsized importance to the future of the city, and, should be given some form of expedited consideration.

The real solution of course is to make sure any staffing issues in the planning department are addressed ASAP.

Of course- but the big files take exponentially more resources and time. I'm fine with, like, the Three Sisters taking some priority over a smaller application submitted at the same time, but imagine hearing 'sorry, someone sent us a new proposal for a 48-unit apartment yesterday, so we are pushing you down the list again'. That would be brutal.

There's also the issue of moonshots like the Landmark in SJ or St. Bernard's in Moncton: imagine delaying small projects for weeks because there's a very hypothetical major 'project' that's basically a render or three.

Like you say, Moncton needs to put some of this permit money into staffing immediately.

[CreamOfpumpkin]

One thing I have noticed is that many of the development departments are fragmented and separated. Now I understand that one person can not lead a project end to end. However, the amount of hands/departments any one project must go through depending on the specifics is out of control. With each department, a project touches it will inevitably be at the bottom of multiple groups queues. Intake > Zoning > Planning and development > Engineering > Lawyers > council. Projects move slowly because they are touched insignificantly and then moved to another department. The communities that do it the best are the places that have a shared online process, for example, Cloud Permit they are a US-based company that is really innovating the permitting slog.

[josh_cat_eyes]

What’s actually gonna happen is in a couple weeks from now the T&T is gonna run a story on the cities planning departments shortages and the city will react to it next year with an increased budget for the department. Just speculation obviously, but we do know that T&T follows this forum.

[Nashe]

What’s actually gonna happen is in a couple weeks from now the T&T is gonna run a story on the cities planning departments shortages and the city will react to it next year with an increased budget for the department. Just speculation obviously, but we do know that T&T follows this forum.
LOL. I guess I need to stoke the rumour mill more, then. :D

[Taeolas]

LOL. I guess I need to stoke the rumour mill more, then. :D

You laugh, but it is the god's honest truth. Many many more times than I can count, we'll start chattering about something we've heard or noticed, and just a few days / a week later, T&T or CTV or Global or (rarely) CBC will be running an article on just what we were talking about.

So I'm sure there are a few reporters digging into the Moncton city planning process, verifying numbers and details just for this sort of article. Especially since it is a juicy subject ("City government inefficiencies getting in the way of development!") to write about.

[Monctoncore]

You laugh, but it is the god's honest truth. Many many more times than I can count, we'll start chattering about something we've heard or noticed, and just a few days / a week later, T&T or CTV or Global or (rarely) CBC will be running an article on just what we were talking about.

So I'm sure there are a few reporters digging into the Moncton city planning process, verifying numbers and details just for this sort of article. Especially since it is a juicy subject ("City government inefficiencies getting in the way of development!") to write about.

Maybe one of us works for them… hmmm but who could it be.

[MonctonRad]

You laugh, but it is the god's honest truth. Many many more times than I can count, we'll start chattering about something we've heard or noticed, and just a few days / a week later, T&T or CTV or Global or (rarely) CBC will be running an article on just what we were talking about.

Or Huddle.

There have been several instances in the last few weeks where Huddle has investigated and reported on things posted either on here (or Retail Talk & Share) just a couple of days previously.

The one that amused me the most was Denny's. I posted on SSP about Denny's considering the Maritimes as a "prime territory" for expansion (I saw this on their franchising page), and not two days later, the reporter had a front line story about Denny's wanting to build five new restaurants in the region by 2024. :haha:

It's all good though. We dig up the rumours and then the mainstream media outlets do all the legwork in terms of investigation. :tup:

[jonny golden]

Of course- but the big files take exponentially more resources and time. I'm fine with, like, the Three Sisters taking some priority over a smaller application submitted at the same time, but imagine hearing 'sorry, someone sent us a new proposal for a 48-unit apartment yesterday, so we are pushing you down the list again'. That would be brutal.

There's also the issue of moonshots like the Landmark in SJ or St. Bernard's in Moncton: imagine delaying small projects for weeks because there's a very hypothetical major 'project' that's basically a render or three.

Like you say, Moncton needs to put some of this permit money into staffing immediately.

Every time I see a reference to St. Bernard's Square I'm disappointed. It would have been such a great addition to the downtown. I only hope that the new owner of the land will come up with a project that's comparable to the previous proposal.

[josh_cat_eyes]

Of course- but the big files take exponentially more resources and time. I'm fine with, like, the Three Sisters taking some priority over a smaller application submitted at the same time, but imagine hearing 'sorry, someone sent us a new proposal for a 48-unit apartment yesterday, so we are pushing you down the list again'. That would be brutal.

There's also the issue of moonshots like the Landmark in SJ or St. Bernard's in Moncton: imagine delaying small projects for weeks because there's a very hypothetical major 'project' that's basically a render or three.

Like you say, Moncton needs to put some of this permit money into staffing immediately.

I can understand for those to projects, but if a building is proposed for next door to Staples on Main Street, or if Spitfire has designed the rendering, they should immediately become the top priority for the city. New Tim Hortons restaurants also take priority too.

[Taeolas]

As far as processing proposals goes, triaging would probably be a good idea over a "standard FIFO" queue. But as noted, you don't want to focus JUST on the big projects.

Ideally you would make sure you have enough for two streams, the "Big" projects that need a large amount of work, and the smaller projects that may need minimal work, and set metrics to track the progress of both tracks to make sure they are going relatively smoothly.

Even if you only have 1 person doing the work, you would hope they would divide it up something like:

Monday: Backlog grooming: Prioritize and categorize new proposals, and review existing proposals to make sure they're in the right spots in the queue
Tuesday, Wednesday: Work on the top "Big Budget" proposal
Thursday, Friday: Churn through the smaller/faster proposals to clear as many as possible.

and have some flexibility to maybe finish one proposal if it has been a long time or is more politically important, or you need to work around an expert's availability, or if the backlog of small proposals is getting too big, etc...

[MonctonRad]

You laugh, but it is the god's honest truth. Many many more times than I can count, we'll start chattering about something we've heard or noticed, and just a few days / a week later, T&T or CTV or Global or (rarely) CBC will be running an article on just what we were talking about.

So I'm sure there are a few reporters digging into the Moncton city planning process, verifying numbers and details just for this sort of article. Especially since it is a juicy subject ("City government inefficiencies getting in the way of development!") to write about.

As predicted, there is an article just released on the T&T website with the following headline.

Labour Shortages Leave City With 50+ Job Openings.
https://tj.news/times-and-transcript/101920939 (paywall)

:haha: :haha: :haha:

[Monctoncore]

Haha, you called it.

[josh_cat_eyes]

As predicted, there is an article just released on the T&T website with the following headline.

Labour Shortages Leave City With 50+ Job Openings.
https://tj.news/times-and-transcript/101920939 (paywall)

:haha: :haha: :haha:


Haha, you called it.

Literally 4 days later, I called it haha.

[Monctoncore]

Literally 4 days later, I called it haha.

Yes! It was you, I couldn’t remember if it was you or Monctonrad

[MonctonRad]

A small snippet from Mayor Dawn Arnold's FB update on city council proceedings:

In “Planning Matters” we had four items:

1. Public Hearing for a new 235-unit apartment & commercial space at Main & Lorentz
2. A new subdivision plan — “Cumberland Place” — Charles Lutes Road
3. Assenting to the location of Vaughan Harvey Blvd to allow for the development at Main & Vaughan Harvey
4. Approved the street name “Navigateurs” in Grove Hamlet

re: Main & Lorentz - I have a feeling we will see construction beginning next year. This is an Ashford project. I suspect this will keep Ashford occupied for a couple of years until they are ready to proceed on the Downing Street project.

re: Main & Vaughan Harvey - City council seems to be in a hurry to expedite this. I suspect we will see ground broken this fall or next spring.

[PEI highway guy]

A small snippet from Mayor Dawn Arnold's FB update on city council proceedings:



re: Main & Lorentz - I have a feeling we will see construction beginning next year. This is an Ashford project. I suspect this will keep Ashford occupied for a couple of years until they are ready to proceed on the Downing Street project.

re: Main & Vaughan Harvey - City council seems to be in a hurry to expedite this. I suspect we will see ground broken this fall or next spring.

Are there any homes/structures to be demolished before this project proceeds? If there is I can see that happening in the fall to be readdy to go in the spring.

[MonctonRad]

Are there any homes/structures to be demolished before this project proceeds? If there is I can see that happening in the fall to be readdy to go in the spring.

Nope. There is no demolition necessary at Main & Vaughan Harvey. This has already occurred.

Unless you are referring to the Lorentz project. There is one building there that needs to be demolished. This would only delay things by a week or so though.

[PEI highway guy]

Nope. There is no demolition necessary at Main & Vaughan Harvey. This has already occurred.

Unless you are referring to the Lorentz project. There is one building there that needs to be demolished. This would only delay things by a week or so though.

I meant the Vaughn Hrvey project , I thought mybe a house or two may have had to come downon Atlantic.

The Bend 91.9 news reported a few changes have been made to the Lorentz project. slightly fewer units are planned annd Ashford will put a side walk out front.

[MonctonRad]

:previous:

The Lorentz development has a new site plan (and new renders). Here is the site plan:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52134656088_a258172927_b.jpg

Better than the original IMHO.

[MonctonRad]

le sigh.......

Moncton ranks 3rd in crime rates in Canada for 2021, according to StatsCan data
Report also shows increase in opioid offences and sexual assaults
Prapti Bamaniya · CBC News · Posted: Aug 07, 2022 8:00 AM AT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/moncton-ranks-3rd-in-crime-rates-in-canada-for-2021-according-to-statscan-data-1.6539183

A new report from Statistics Canada reveals Moncton had the third-highest police-reported crime rate in Canada in 2021.

Among metropolitan cities, only Kelowna, B.C., and Lethbridge, Alta., had higher crime rates in 2021, according to the Aug. 2 report.

https://i.cbc.ca/1.6542634.1659716324!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_1180/police-reported-crime-rate-2021.jpg

https://i.cbc.ca/1.6542646.1659717676!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_1180/csi-across-canada.jpg

The rise in reported crime is related to drug offences, low level sexual assault, and property crime/break & enter.

I'm sure the greatest cause for this municipal embarrassment is the drug crisis, and subsequent homelessness and, petty theft to feed drug addiction.

This problem is an embarrassment, and, can no longer be ignored. A multi pronged approach is necessary including better support for addicts so they can reintegrate into society, and, a more concerted effort to provide social housing. At the same time however there should be increased efforts to remove encampments from around the city and to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law the pushers who exploit the drug addicts in the city. Get rid of the pushers and you will get rid of the addicts.

[ChampduLarge]

I moved here permanently from Toronto last year and I was talking to a friend from Toronto who said "you probably never lock your doors" and I helped them out by explaining where crime is high in Canada. I note that Toronto is second-to-last among major Canadian cities in crime rates, something that is not well understood among the general population. (Do not regret my move in any way, but a bit alarmed that Moncton is outpacing Regina and Saskatoon, which his pretty hard to do).

[BlackYear]

Hopefully this is a big wake up call for City Hall. They all ignored the issue for several years, swept everything under the rug, well there you go. Keep doing what you're doing and we'll be #1 next year.

This is not good for anyone. Start the crackdown!

[habs33]

Apple maps will be driving and walking in several N.B. counties between August 08 nd September 30
Apple Maps. Building the best digital map for Canada. (https://maps.apple.com/imagecollection/locations/ca?cid=wwa-ca-soc-sust-apmpdcl-socl-twit-staf-infe-cpc-ios-mul-aiost-gnt-broa-pmlp-ftr-caen-dacl-static-800x800-ban-apmps-na-na-lem-na-na-na-02533066)

[MonctonDowntown]

Writing to express my great appreciation for all the posts here in the Moncton threads!!

While we are unable to like a post, please know that a lot of people really value the information that all of you share. Special shout out to MonctonRad who really makes the Moncton threads the best in the Atlantic Canada section of The SkyscraperPage. Thank you. I’m on all the threads across the region and even though we are a fraction the size of Halifax, the level of posts exceeds Hfx. Kudos to all.

[caveat.doctor]

Was passing through and just wanted to do a shout out for Resurgo Place, it really is an amazing museum! Especially with the NB Museum being permanently closed, it seems to function as a provincial museum especially for science and transport

https://i.imgur.com/4c3xwaul.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Y8jaIcDl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YF6eZi1l.jpg

For us interested in urban history there is plenty of artifacts of Moncton's local past but the coolest bit was the huge scale map

https://i.imgur.com/BESG6Drl.jpg

You walk around with these iPad-equipped walkers and as you pass over targets of interest

https://i.imgur.com/pL4lefWl.jpg

you get archival videos and photos, like a literal stroll through history!

https://i.imgur.com/buYRneDl.jpg

Plenty of then and now of course

https://i.imgur.com/lzLshSCl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jvWfdUkl.jpg

And a neat art gallery and gift shop too

https://i.imgur.com/wEFZcO7l.jpg

For those of us who mostly pass through on the train, highway or airport you might not know much of Moncton, but like all transport hubs in human history it’s got all the stories of peoples crossing and mixing and rising together. Most importantly for the kids: trains and rockets!

[MonctonRad]

From Mayor Dawn Arnold's Facebook update of city council decisions:

Enormous City of Moncton council agenda tonight! We began with our consent agenda (with some street closures and noise exemptions for upcoming events) and then had public presentation from the Moncton Squash Club and on Active Transportation, along with our regular Codiac RCMP update.

We then had a public hearing on some housekeeping changes to our municipal plan (specifically moving the secondary plans from the huge document, to provide a bit more ease as we move into a new Municipal Planning process next year — Vision Lands, Sunny Brae Neighbourhood, Humphrey Brook Neighbourhood and the Downtown Core Community Improvement Plans).

Also in planning matters, we had the introduction of two rezonings on Elmwood Drive to extend the municipal service boundary. In each case, Council voted to do this (in contravention of our Municipal Plan). There will be opportunity for your input at an upcoming Public Hearing (public presentation September 6th, Public Hearing October 17th and written views of the Planning Advisory Committee on September 28th).

We then agreed to a land exchange in Grove Hamlet (to provide trail access and easement), a tentative subdivision plan in Jonathan Park that would create more public land, and a tentative subdivision Plan for MID at Shediac/Harrisville approving the following street names: Babineau Blvd East, Aviateurs St., Eddie St and Bisson St.

On Highlandview Road, council agreed to a bonus zoning agreement to provide 10% affordable housing.

From our last Committee of the Whole, Council agreed to issue an RFP for a transportation master plan that would include a Magnetic Hill Transportation Study, Elmwood Drive & McLaughlin Corridor Study, a North End Transportation Plan and a Destination 2040 model update, along with another RFP for the design of Mountain Road from Hildegard to Wheeler. We also approved our traffic impact study guidelines and the animal control by-law.

From our last Private session we agreed to purchase more land in the Turtle Creek watershed and agreed to a lease agreement with Bell Mobility to allow a 22m cell tower in the Magic Mountain parking lot.

In “Reports from Administration” we approved our 2023 Strategic Plan, issued tenders for snow and ice control (18 pieces of equipment), for coliseum electrical upgrades (Ainsworth Inc. = $948,750) and for parking lot snow removal off Main Street (Ayles = $112,526).

We then awarded an RFP for engineering services for the Panacadie Trail (Lewisville/Donald Ave.) and agreed to rename Hamilton Heights Park “Brian Hicks Park”.

[Monctoncore]

Enormous meeting or long, it doesn’t seem like anything exciting came out of this meeting.

This is just frustration speaking because this is the longest in my memory that the city has gone without announcing some new development regarding apartments/condos etc..

[MonctonRad]

:previous:

One of the two Elmwood Drive projects is enormous - 1000 housing units. See the Moncton East Thread. :)

[MonctonRad]

Moncton test will see taller building in exchange for units deemed affordable
Agreement would see some rents initially capped at $1,142.50 per month
Shane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Aug 18, 2022 7:00 AM AT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/density-bonusing-moncton-lafford-1.6553525

Moncton is testing a new policy known as density bonusing that allows construction of buildings larger than normally allowed if they include units deemed affordable or having energy efficiency measures.

The option was introduced through a 2017 change to the province's Community Planning Act, but has not previously been implemented in Moncton.

[Feneant]

"Affordable" :koko:

[drewber]

"Affordable" :koko:

Affordability being based on 30% of your income and looking at a median income as a baseline. I agree 30% of my income is 1125 a month but that doesn't take into account taxes. Take home pay would put me closer to $810 a month to pay rent. That's a huge jump and I feel like I'm making a decent income. It's why a lot of people need two incomes regardless if they're married or not to be able to live right now.

[RoshanMcG]

http://i.imgur.com/pIvapZnh.jpg (https://imgur.com/pIvapZn)

[MonctonRad]

This info was included in the planning package regarding the Eastgate Village development proposal on Elmwood Drive:

Based on a high growth projection scenario, the city’s population is expected to increase from 2021 to 2046 to approximately 116,200 people.

This represents overall growth of 44% or 35,400 people

Please note that this growth projection is only for the city proper. Assuming similar growth in Dieppe, Riverview and outlying areas, the CMA population in 2046 could be as much as 225,000.

To accommodate this growth, the City will need to add 16,100 new housing units to the market over the next 25 years. This includes a short-term (0-5 year) demand of 4,500 units

When examining the short-term (0-5 year) residential supply stream, staff have identified a development potential of 8,573 new residential units, including:

• 2,594 units approved by the PAC
• 1,056 units currently under construction
• 3,384 units in active subdivision areas
• 1,539 units in pre-application – these are files that are being finalized for future Council/PAC approval

This makes you wonder where the 1,539 units in "pre-application" are to be located. These are units that city planning is aware of, but that have not yet been brought forward to PAC or city council for review or approval. If these units are located downtown, there would be enough units for 4-5 substantial developments (meaning residential high rises). I wonder if the Ashford lands behind Assumption Place figure into this. I'm positive that the plans for this property would be considered as being in the "pre-application" phase. :yes:

[acadieman]

Inside Scoop Rogers will be Closing their Moncton Call Center by end of 2022 (80% of the staff were already work from home). Someone who work at the Center Just told me this.Waiting to be announced to the public.

[MonctonRad]

:previous:

Interesting. If true, not many people would mourn the loss of this building. It is the sort of generic structure one would see in an anonymous suburban office park. It's demise could free up substantial new land for repurposing.

[jonny golden]

Inside Scoop Rogers will be Closing their Moncton Call Center by end of 2022 (80% of the staff were already work from home). Someone who work at the Center Just told me this.Waiting to be announced to the public.

That would be a significant announcement. Their parking lot is huge.

[L'homard]

Pesky ugly Rogers call centre right in the way of where the biggest downtown development project is to take place in downtown's history. I hope Rogers keeps a significant presence in Moncton - or even downtown- but let's face it, if they are leaving that building, the timing could hardly be better.

[ColSJ]

That would be a significant announcement. Their parking lot is huge.

Just looked at google maps and the amount cars surrounding this building is crazy!!

The building itself looks very suburban so that wouldn’t be a loss but all those employees leaving downtown can’t be good for the commercial scene.

[jonny golden]

Just looked at google maps and the amount cars surrounding this building is crazy!!

The building itself looks very suburban so that wouldn’t be a loss but all those employees leaving downtown can’t be good for the commercial scene.

If they're working from home anyway, it shouldn't be too bad. And if they're eventually replaced by people living in a development that replaces all that surface parking, it's a win for downtown.

I remember that parking lot being a real bone of contention when the Rogers call center was built.

[Monctoncore]

According to Ashford properties, they own the rogers building.

[MonctonRad]

According to Ashford properties, they own the rogers building.

And the plot thickens..........

[jonny golden]

:previous:

Interesting. If true, not many people would mourn the loss of this building. It is the sort of generic structure one would see in an anonymous suburban office park. It's demise could free up substantial new land for repurposing.

Spoke to a manager who confirmed this. They're closing all the customer contact centers, and the Moncton center will be the last one to close.

[MonctonRad]

Spoke to a manager who confirmed this. They're closing all the customer contact centers, and the Moncton center will be the last one to close.

Well, it's nice to see that we are not being picked on. :)

This building will be no loss. This adds to the impressive amount of land that Ashford has available in Moncton south of Main Street. Having a single developer controlling all this property allows for the possibility of significant collaborative and innovative projects backed by all three levels of government. We could see significant investment in housing (including affordable housing), arts and cultural venues, enclosed parking, some retail and commercial and perhaps even educational investment. Almost anything could be on the table!

I really want to see a well thought out innovative and integrated plan for this area. :yes:

[Monctoncore]

Well, it's nice to see that we are not being picked on. :)

This building will be no loss. This adds to the impressive amount of land that Ashford has available in Moncton south of Main Street. Having a single developer controlling all this property allows for the possibility of significant collaborative and innovative projects backed by all three levels of government. We could see significant investment in housing (including affordable housing), arts and cultural venues, enclosed parking, some retail and commercial and perhaps even educational investment. Almost anything could be on the table!

I really want to see a well thought out innovative and integrated plan for this area. :yes:


I agree. I would like them to have a well thought out plan, ground floor retail/restaurants, a new market, library, a well thought out street grid, walkable ,pedestrian friendly and well lit. It would be nice if they went with a mix of different architectural styles as well, add some spice to the buildings , things that stand out and make people talk, as well as excited.

[MonctonRad]

"A Fresh Palette, City Planners Predict Big Changes Downtown"
https://tj.news/times-and-transcript/101951329 (paywall)

https://s3.amazonaws.com/resized.images.us-east-1.tj.news/1290184/desktop/andrewsmithmoncton.jpg
T&T photo

A paywalled article, but the T&T is making a case for transformative development in the downtown south of Main Street over the next decade, and city planning officials do not disagree. They mention several projects ready to go, only waiting for infrastructure upgrades (already announced by the three levels of government) earlier this week.

It sounds like exciting times coming up for urban enthusiasts on SSP, but we may have to patient for another couple of years while they upgrade the infrastructure to get things going.

[Monctoncore]

I wonder if it’s possible that some of these projects could get underway and coincide with the street restructuring.

[jonny golden]

Yep, and Ashford can work on the Lorentz Drive buildings while the infrastructure upgrades are being done. It's all about the timing.

Talking about infrastructure upgrades, it's a real shame that the St. Bernard's Square project didn't get off the ground after the city did all that underground work in the area. I hope the new owners will proceed with a similar project some day.

[MonctonRad]

Interesting CBC article about yet another failure for the "Vision Lands."

N.B. Power plan to test solar-powered subdivision in Moncton fizzles
Utility partnered with Siemens Canada, developer on cluster of 100 homes in Vision Lands
Shane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Aug 30, 2022 7:00 AM AT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/vision-lands-moncton-development-nb-power-1.6565376

It's the latest in a series of efforts to build homes marketed as eco-friendly that have not materialized in the Vision Lands, an area the city has wanted to see developed for decades.

The utility planned a self-sufficient neighbourhood focused on an area off McLaughlin west of Leopold F. Belliveau Drive.

Staeben attributed the collapse of the plan announced in 2020, called North Branch, to market conditions and pandemic-related supply problems experienced by the developer.

This bit was particularly interesting:

But by this spring, Staeben said the utility began exploring other options in Moncton, including working with a separate proposal called Eastgate Village off Elmwood Drive that recently went before city council.

A document from Eastgate includes the N.B. Power logo and "Smart Grid Atlantic," but Staeben said they are no longer involved in the project.

So, NB Power and Siemens have given up on the Vision Lands for their demonstration project, and instead considered focussing on the Eastgate Village development.

I have nothing particularly against Eastgate (aside from looming traffic issues, including congestion in and around the Elmwood/TCH interchange). It seems to be a well thought out, relatively high density planned suburban development. Although north of the TCH, in an ersatz sense, Eastgate could in fact also be considered "infill" in the sense that in quick succession to the north of Eastgate, you have the Pine Tree Estates mini home park, Royal Oaks and Moncton High School. All Eastgate will be doing is making the development corridor contiguous with the rest of the city.

I mean, if you are going to locate the eponymous Moncton High School out by the Kent County line, you might as well let the city grow out to meet it - right??? :rolleyes:

If the city wants to be successful with the Vision Lands, they really need to come up with a successful strategy. So far this has been a failure. Aside from some minor development along the margins of the Vision Lands, nothing much has happened over the last 20 years.

The Vision Lands has become a bit of a Jonah for the city. There must be some reason for this.

[MonctonRad]

City council meeting tonight. Both the Eastgate Village and Vineyard subdivisions off of Elmwood will be discussed. It will be interesting to see what transpires. This topic touches a lot of sensitivities, both in the neighbourhood and within the greater city (both pro and con), as well as challenging urban planning fundamentals as well.

[josh_cat_eyes]

When they eventually build an interchange at McLaughlin road, what would the design look like? I’m sure the city has to have had discussions about this at some point. I wonder if it will be brought up at the upcoming meeting.

[MonctonRad]

:previous:

A number of years ago, we discovered a diagram of what a McLaughlin Road interchange would look like, and it was posted on the forum. I'll dig around a little later to see if I can find it.

[MonctonRad]

City council meeting tonight. Both the Eastgate Village and Vineyard subdivisions off of Elmwood will be discussed. It will be interesting to see what transpires. This topic touches a lot of sensitivities, both in the neighbourhood and within the greater city (both pro and con), as well as challenging urban planning fundamentals as well.

This is from Mayor Dawn Arnold's summary of the city council deliberations this evening:

In Planning Matters, we had the public presentations for two expansions beyond the serviceable boundary on Elmwood, setting the Public Hearing for October 17th (this will the an opportunity for the public to express their views on this publicly, but there will also be opportunities to submit in writing). Additionally, it still needs to come to the Planning Advisory Committee.

A pretty bare boned paragraph, devoid of real content. There is more information in this T&T article released online this evening:

https://tj.news/times-and-transcript/101958430 (paywall)

It is abundantly clear that there is intense opposition to the Eastgate and Vineyard subdivisions within the Mayors Office and the City Planning Department. Meanwhile there is considerable support for these two developments in City Council itself. Lines are being drawn. The upcoming public hearings and PAC meeting should be quite interesting. The final city council meeting to approve these developments should be downright Machiavellian. Fasten your seatbelts!!!

[MonctonRad]

Park envisioned by Moncton councillors as city updates Vision Land plans
City, major landowners reach agreement to fund new plan for 500 acre-area

Shane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Sep 09, 2022 7:00 AM AT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/moncton-vision-lands-park-1.6575715

Revisions to Moncton's urban planning document for a vast area of the city's northwest known as the Vision Lands are prompting councillors to propose creating parkland.

Several councillors raised the idea during a council meeting Tuesday.

"My vision is a central park right in the middle of it, a huge chunk of land right in the middle," Coun. Daniel Bourgeois said.

He suggested the city set aside 500 metres on both sides of the North Branch of Halls Creek, which runs through the Vision Lands.

Mayor Dawn Arnold suggested the city look at a federal (urban) parks program.

The Vision Lands cover a largely undeveloped track of about 1,400 acres bounded by Mapleton Road, the Trans-Canada Highway, McLaughlin Road and Wheeler Boulevard.

Longstanding planning documents have called for developing the area with new homes and businesses. City staff have described it as one of the last readily developable areas within existing municipal limits.

There is some heavy duty cognitive dissonance going on here. City planning and the Mayor strongly oppose the Vineyard and Eastgate developments off of Elmwood Drive because they fall outside the municipal service boundary, and the city supposed has enough developable land within the boundary (especially within the Vision Lands) to last at least 30 years. Yet, at the same time, city council is approving a study to look at converting up ti 50% of the Vision Lands into parkland! What gives here!!! If they are going to lop off a huge portion of the land available for development within the service boundary, shouldn't they be looking at replacing this lost land elsewhere (like with Eastgate & Vineyard)???

Something is not right here. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

I mean, make a choice. If you are going to vote against these new subdivisions, then you need to take a pro development stance with the Vision Lands. It's just that simple. You can't have it both ways...........

[Ifyoubuildit]

Park envisioned by Moncton councillors as city updates Vision Land plans
City, major landowners reach agreement to fund new plan for 500 acre-area

Shane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Sep 09, 2022 7:00 AM AT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/moncton-vision-lands-park-1.6575715





There is some heavy duty cognitive dissonance going on here. City planning and the Mayor strongly oppose the Vineyard and Eastgate developments off of Elmwood Drive because they fall outside the municipal service boundary, and the city supposed has enough developable land within the boundary (especially within the Vision Lands) to last at least 30 years. Yet, at the same time, city council is approving a study to look at converting up ti 50% of the Vision Lands into parkland! What gives here!!! If they are going to lop off a huge portion of the land available for development within the service boundary, shouldn't they be looking at replacing this lost land elsewhere (like with Eastgate & Vineyard)???

Something is not right here. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

I mean, make a choice. If you are going to vote against these new subdivisions, then you need to take a pro development stance with the Vision Lands. It's just that simple. You can't have it both ways...........

Council also needs a lesson in math. If the Vision Land owners are expected to pay for infra-structure and give up 50% of the value of their land, good luck making that math work, especially in light of todays costs of construction. They need to be realistic and find a good balance between density and green space, trail networks etc. But if they expect to lop off 50% and then lose another 25% to roads, setbacks, etc it is going to be a futile exercise.

It seems ridiculous that council is even considering Eastgate and the Vineyard. How much infra-structure is the tax payer going to have to pay to support roads, services, intersections, etc that lead to this area? I would suspect tens of millions. Will Elmwood need to be upgraded to a Boulevard with intersections? Will a highway overpass be needed? Will services need to be extended or upgraded the entire length of Elmwood? Whereas, the surrounding infrastructure is in place at the western Vision Lands, being flanked by two major boulevards (Mapleton and Wheeler) and the Trans-Canada Highway. Any added infrastructure to support Eastgate and Vineyard is also going to require maintenance forever, on the back of the tax payer. Not to mention the carbon dioxide emissions for all the traffic that is going to travel way outside of the municipal boundaries to access these sites plus the lack of public transportation.

[Riberview]

In regards to the Eastgate development..

I for one find it difficult to understand what's happening behind closed doors. Staff and the mayor are dead set against any development North of the TCH on Elmwood. This is bizarre to me, as the developments proposed are quite a distance from the municipal boundary.

I get they want density before more sprawl. I personally would prefer to live NOT in city centre, but be a 6 min drive from same.

Fix the problems plaguing the core, before you insist all development be in the core.

The City allowed Granite Drive to happen, North of the TCH.. The Province moved a high school there. The City put a fire station north of the highway..

Elmwood Drive was upgraded to the high-school. Are you telling me they rebuilt the sewer and all, ONLY to accommodate current builds?

Whose fault is that then?

Short sightedness is a funny thing, especially when you've got oodles of "master plans" kicking around..

Don't even get me started on this new pivot for Vision Lands. Insist on development here but when it falls through, insist it be a federal park?! So we can't build in the literal centre of the city.. and we can't build where all these new businesses are going..

Make up your mind, or hire planners who can actually plan shit.

/endrant

[Ifyoubuildit]

In regards to the Eastgate development..

I for one find it difficult to understand what's happening behind closed doors. Staff and the mayor are dead set against any development North of the TCH on Elmwood. This is bizarre to me, as the developments proposed are quite a distance from the municipal boundary.

I get they want density before more sprawl. I personally would prefer to live NOT in city centre, but be a 6 min drive from same.

Fix the problems plaguing the core, before you insist all development be in the core.

The City allowed Granite Drive to happen, North of the TCH.. The Province moved a high school there. The City put a fire station north of the highway..

Elmwood Drive was upgraded to the high-school. Are you telling me they rebuilt the sewer and all, ONLY to accommodate current builds?

Whose fault is that then?

Short sightedness is a funny thing, especially when you've got oodles of "master plans" kicking around..

Don't even get me started on this new pivot for Vision Lands. Insist on development here but when it falls through, insist it be a federal park?! So we can't build in the literal centre of the city.. and we can't build where all these new businesses are going..

Make up your mind, or hire planners who can actually plan shit.

/endrant

I assume landowners such as those of the Vision Lands make investments based on city policies and planning. Namely, paying higher costs for land and taxes as one would expect in areas slated for future development. Allowing random projects to proceed outside the municipal boundary and deviating from established planning is poor governance. It is going to cost the tax payer dearly not to mention the negative environmental impacts of adding unnecessary infrastructure and emissions (thousands of cars traveling 10kms outside the municipal boundary daily with no public transit). Beyond considering a project outside of the municipal boundary, why is council suggesting 50% park land for Vision Land owners and not the same demands are being made of Eastgate or the Vineyard? There appears to be little to no green space on their plans, which further supports the nonsensical consideration of allowing these developments to occur outside the municipal boundary. It seems crazy to me that you have private land owners in both cases, but the ones who are actually within the boundary are being held to a higher standard? Council should listen to their professional planners and abide by sound municipal planning.

[MonctonRad]

In regards to the Eastgate development..

I for one find it difficult to understand what's happening behind closed doors. Staff and the mayor are dead set against any development North of the TCH on Elmwood. This is bizarre to me, as the developments proposed are quite a distance from the municipal boundary.

I get they want density before more sprawl. I personally would prefer to live NOT in city centre, but be a 6 min drive from same.

Fix the problems plaguing the core, before you insist all development be in the core.

The City allowed Granite Drive to happen, North of the TCH.. The Province moved a high school there. The City put a fire station north of the highway..

Elmwood Drive was upgraded to the high-school. Are you telling me they rebuilt the sewer and all, ONLY to accommodate current builds?

Whose fault is that then?

Short sightedness is a funny thing, especially when you've got oodles of "master plans" kicking around..

Don't even get me started on this new pivot for Vision Lands. Insist on development here but when it falls through, insist it be a federal park?! So we can't build in the literal centre of the city.. and we can't build where all these new businesses are going..

Make up your mind, or hire planners who can actually plan shit.

/endrant

Regarding the whole "municipal service boundary" farce. You can see the boundary in this image below:

https://i.cbc.ca/1.6553399.1660708133!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_1180/elmwood-urban-boundary.jpg

The boundary is a zigzag ersatz sham which makes no geographic (or logical) sense. It zigs here and zags there with no coherent logic whatsoever. It includes the eastern half of Granite Drive and the Caledonia Industrial Park, hugs Elmwood Drive to the north (but skipping over the proposed Eastgate and Vineyard developments), and then widens to include the Pine Tree Estates mini home park, Royal Oaks Golf Course and subdivision and then Moncton High School.

Eastgate and Vineyard are essentially infill projects, but inexplicably lie outside this nonsensical service boundary. It is truly a bizarre situation.

Now, there will be consequences for approving these two subdivision (sewer and water upgrades, new signalized intersections, perhaps some upgrades to Elmwood Drive and perhaps a connector to McLaughlin Road, but a lot of this was going to have to happen in the next 25 years anyway.

I find it strange that city planning is drawing a line in the sand on the municipal service boundary in this particular part of the city given how nonsensical the boundary in this location is in the first place. If the city decides to deny these two subdivisions, then so be it, but FFS, don't turn half the Vision Lands into a federal urban park at the same time! The city needs to have room to grow. There has to be logical coherence to your planning goals. I see none here. The planning department, city council and the mayor are going off the rails. Decide what it is you want to do, and then do it!!!

[Riberview]

'Zactly.

[MonctonRad]

Another modest Moncton PAC agenda. The only item is for a modest revision to the Jonathon Park subdivision in the NW end.

https://www5.moncton.ca/docs/pac/PAC/September_28_2022/4_b_Jonathan_Park_Avis_Public_Notice.pdf

This has been the quietest year for PAC in about five years. :(

[Monctoncore]

Either the city needs to hire more staff as they are far behind on paperwork (like we have heard) or developers in the city have gone on strike. I truly believe its the first one, the vacancy rate is still way too low and demand high.

[habs33]

Interesting tweet from CBC's Robert Jones
https://twitter.com/cbcjones/status/1570153550667476993
Building construction in greater Moncton (residential and non residential) hit a record $522.0 million during the first 7 months of 2022. It's more than greater Fredericton ($278.3 million) and greater Saint John ($213.8 million) combined.

[MonctonRad]

:previous:

There's no question that construction in the city is carrying on at a historic pace, but all they are doing is catching up on previously approved projects.

Precious few new projects have been approved by the city so far this year. This is not a problem now, but could be a problem in a couple of years once the contractors have caught up.

[Ifyoubuildit]

Either the city needs to hire more staff as they are far behind on paperwork (like we have heard) or developers in the city have gone on strike. I truly believe its the first one, the vacancy rate is still way too low and demand high.

What I have heard is that supply costs have not come down and in many cases are still increasing, interest rates doubled, and labor is sparse causing significant delays and expense, government increased apartment property assessments by 20-30% and followed that up with a rent cap. These projects apparently are no longer making financial sense under these conditions. If we think the housing crisis is bad now, it will be a disaster in two years. It is not like developers can instantly turn the faucet back on, it seems past projects we have seen were planned 1-2 years prior. Government should stop penalizing developers and rather find ways to support projects. With the mass retirement of baby boomers, immigration is more important than ever to solidify our economy. But where are these newcomers going to live!

[ColSJ]

:previous:

There's no question that construction in the city is carrying on at a historic pace, but all they are doing is catching up on previously approved projects.

Precious few new projects have been approved by the city so far this year. This is not a problem now, but could be a problem in a couple of years once the contractors have caught up.

I think it’s worth noting Metro Moncton has approved a lot of projects that have multiple phases. So yes the absence of new projects may be disappointing but there are still plenty of projects lined up for years to come.

[MonctonRad]

Another modest Moncton PAC agenda. The only item is for a modest revision to the Jonathon Park subdivision in the NW end.

https://www5.moncton.ca/docs/pac/PAC/September_28_2022/4_b_Jonathan_Park_Avis_Public_Notice.pdf

This has been the quietest year for PAC in about five years. :(

The PAC agenda has been fleshed out a bit more. They are going to discuss Eastgate & the Vineyard subdivisions amongst a few other things, but, still no huge surprises:

https://www.moncton.ca/planning-advisory-committee

[MonctonRad]

This interesting factoid was posted on Mayor Dawn Arnold's Facebook page:

https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/307558882_473521071455506_8418335628760505778_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p552x414&_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=2xoC5WzLVTwAX9Pz-ZE&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&oh=00_AT-Rr5Wia5plwkghBF6HIIz5jrxcksFlMgyV08eS-P-Klw&oe=632ACE52

Why is this? I don't know. I don't get the impression there is a new actual "baby boom" occurring in the city. Perhaps most of our immigrants are bringing young families with them, but if so, why Moncton in particular?

[josh_cat_eyes]

This interesting factoid was posted on Mayor Dawn Arnold's Facebook page:

https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/307558882_473521071455506_8418335628760505778_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p552x414&_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=2xoC5WzLVTwAX9Pz-ZE&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&oh=00_AT-Rr5Wia5plwkghBF6HIIz5jrxcksFlMgyV08eS-P-Klw&oe=632ACE52

Why is this? I don't know. I don't get the impression there is a new actual "baby boom" occurring in the city. Perhaps most of our immigrants are bringing young families with them, but if so, why Moncton in particular?

This could be why the schools have seen so much pressure in the last 15 years.

[MonctonRad]

This could be why the schools have seen so much pressure in the last 15 years.

It certainly seems that despite continual new school construction in the metro area, that the portable classrooms have not gone away.........

Maybe Moncton will need a new fifth anglophone high school after all..........

[Monctoncore]

What’s good about this is the fact this means there are more young families in the city, which is extremely important!

[CreamOfpumpkin]

Maybe, and this is positive thinking here, but just maybe the developers know of a couple of big projects that are imminent. So they are less inclined to make a splash, at least not in Moncton core.
If I was planning a big build-out and investment I would think I would be knowledgeable about not just current market conditions but also the near future development schedule.

[MonctonRad]

:previous:

Oh, I'm sure that the Moncton development community is well aware of the major plans for the downtown (Downing Street, Ashford Lands, remainder of the Junction Urban Village, 1299 Main, towers 2&3 of the Three Sisters, St. Bernard Square, the ASEC, etc, etc, etc.), and this no doubt has some bearing on their own development plans.

There will be no shortage of construction projects in the downtown area for the foreseeable future (unless economic conditions force plans to be cancelled).

[Lobster chucker]

So the under 15 stats is used by relocating companies and manufacturers as a barometer of future workforce. they use this as a on marker in making decisions when relocations or setting up shop or manufacturing

[MonctonRad]

Moncton's Hindu community opens first temple in city
Organizers say having a temple in the city is a ‘dream come true’
Alexandre Silberman · CBC News · Posted: Oct 10, 2022 5:45 PM AT | Last Updated: October 10
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/moncton-s-hindu-community-opens-first-temple-in-city-1.6612113

https://i.cbc.ca/1.6612132.1665430665!/cumulusImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_1180/hundreds-of-new-brunswick-hindus-celebrate-the-opening-of-moncton-s-first-temple.jpg

[habs33]

Mayor Arnold posted on her fb page:
A huge and important meeting of Moncton City Council tomorrow

Here is the agenda:
https://www5.moncton.ca/docs/councilmeetings/2022/Agenda/2022-10-17%20Agenda-Ordre%20du%20jour%20(Small).pdf?fbclid=IwAR2--_P2fh3lL5j3SGsbiXclrxPMjk3BE1WBk0t8wlS0JyY8aMdbv_wl0jQ

[MonctonRad]

:previous:

Here's Mayor Arnold's Facebook update regarding the conclusions of this meeting:

Had a LARGE Public Session of Moncton City Council tonight (almost 7 hours)! We began with public presentations on a tourism centre idea, and updates from Harvest House and on Elmwood Drive widening.

From there we had the first reading of our “Fees & Charges” by-law and three tentative subdivision plans:
• Mountain Equities Ltd., between 2181 and 2251 Mountain Road (3 apartment buildings)
• Jonathan Park — Unit 4, between Amiens Drive and Salengro Crescent (37 residential lots -- this was postponed)
• Sterling Meadows Unit 3, northern side of Shediac Road (16 residential lots and 5 future development lots)

We then had the Public Hearing for the development charge area (to accommodate the Shannex development at Mountain Road and Worthington).

Next up was the Public Hearing for the extension of the serviceable boundary for Eastgate on Elmwood Drive and this was followed by the Public Hearing for Vineyard development, also on Elmwood and also requesting an extension to the serviceable boundary – both of these developments will move ahead (pending 2nd and 3rd by-law readings).

We had the 2nd and 3rd readings of our Animal Control By-law, with the necessary changes to include cats. (Thank you to the many community volunteers who provided feedback.) Also, had the 1st reading for our new “Taxis, Limousines and Vehicles for Hire” By-law.

Nominations to the Youth Advisory Committee:
• Shrija Parey — Moncton High
• Nelly Yeung — Moncton Christian Academy
And, that’s it! Let me know if you have questions.

Colour me very surprised, but it sounds like both the Vineyard and EastGate Village have lived to survive another day despite the opposition of town planning, the PAC and the Mayor's office! I thought both proposals were dead in the water!!!

[MonctonRad]

This freshly published article on the T&T website confirms that both EastGate and the Vineyard have been approved by Moncton city council, by a vote of 6-5.

https://tj.news/times-and-transcript/101988997 (paywall)

https://s3.amazonaws.com/resized.images.us-east-1.tj.news/1313101/desktop/eastgate_1.jpg

[MonctonRad]

Here is the agenda for the October PACS meeting for the City of Moncton:

https://www5.moncton.ca/docs/pac/PAC/Oct_26_2022/Agenda_Ordre_du_jour_Oct_26_oct.pdf

As has been typical recently, this is a very light agenda.