Seniors housing proposal approved for King Street

Another seniors housing development for Sackville has been given the green light by town council.
John and Patricia Lafford's latest proposal for their property at 32-34 King Street was given approval during council's monthly meeting June 3, which also served as the public hearing for the project.
The Laffords' recent request to modify the existing development agreement for the property is the latest in a series of revisions that have been made over the past several years.
"The neighbours have had a bit of a roller coaster ride with this because there's been a number of changes," said Tracey Wade, planner with the Tantramar Planning District Commission.
The property, which was rezoned to an R2 designation back in 2000 when the former property owner proposed to construct a 27-unit apartment building on site, still allows for multi-unit residential dwelling, said Wade, but the new owners have brought back revised site plans for approval several times in the past few years.
Although their plans two years ago called for an 18-unit apartment building, the Laffords' latest proposal will see construction of three single-storey buildings containing four units (each with two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and dining area, and living room) aimed at the local seniors market.
Members of town council said they were pleased with the change in plans and even local residents voiced their delight over the new seniors housing complex.
"It's a nice-looking series of buildings," said Meredith Fisher during the public hearing.
Sandy Burnett said he came to offer his "compliments rather than complaints" over the proposal.
"I'm pleased to see that, step by step, this development has become more and more attractive," he said.
Burnett said his concerns over the initial King Street proposal stemmed from problems with increased sediment flowing into the Waterfowl Park over the past few years during major construction projects.
This has been mostly due to proper standards not being put into place, he said.
The current development, however, will require that any stormwater management issues be addressed prior to construction. As a condition of the project, a storm drainage plan (which includes sedimentation barriers and silt fencing) must be designed by a professional engineer and submitted to the town for review.
The King Street Seniors Complex is the third seniors housing project developed in the community over the past few years, with one being built three years ago in Middle Sackville and one currently under development on Charlotte Street.