Charlotte Street seniors housing project gets the green light from town council

Site work is expected to get under way this week on a Charlotte Street property, which will soon be home to a new multi-unit housing development for seniors in the community.
Sackville town council gave the final approval for the seniors' housing project during a special council meeting last Monday night.
Developer Warren Weeks of T&W Holdings Ltd. is expected to begin construction on the four single-storey 10-unit senior townhouses at 66-74 Charlotte Street in early May.
"To me, it looks very positive," said Mayor Pat Estabrooks during council's regular meeting on April 14, in which council approved first and second reading to amend the zoning bylaw to make way for the project. "I'm glad to see it's for seniors, at last. I think it'll be a great development once it's completed."
This is Weeks' second attempt at getting a senior housing project off the ground in Sackville. The developer's original proposal for Charlotte Street was given the green light by council three years ago but he cancelled his plans soon after, citing what he called "unreasonable demands" from the planning commission.
Tracey Wade, planner with the Tantramar Planning District Commission, explained that although the developer was given approval for his housing project back in 2006, his latest request asked that his first development agreement be repealed and he re-applied with a newly-revised proposal.
Wade said the developer has since purchased an adjacent lot to the Charlotte Street property and plans to double the number of units on the four-acre site.
Each of the buildings, said Wade, will contain eight garden suites flanked by a townhouse with garage at each end. The two-bedroom units will be approximately 962 square feet. The main and emergency accesses to the property will be off Charlotte Street and full municipal services are available to the site.
Local resident David Horyl, who lives on Dominican Drive across from the proposed development, said he sees the housing as a "well-needed project" and is hopeful the developer will keep his promise to seek out seniors as his tenants.
Tim Rose, who lives on Bowes Avenue in behind the Charlotte Street property, said the developer is well-respected in the community and insisted Weeks is a "man of his word."
"I think this is a good idea, it's well needed, and I have no problems at all with it going in my backyard," he said.