SACKVILLE, N.B. – The vision for the Exit 506 area has been given the thumbs up by town council – so what’s next?
“We now have to proceed with a strategic implementation strategy to make this a realization,” said Jamie Burke, Sackville’s senior manager of corporate projects.
The Exit 506 Land Use and Functional Planning Study, prepared over the past few months by Ekistics Planning and Design, was officially endorsed by council during their monthly meeting last Monday night but Burke said the work is just beginning. And he cautioned that, even with the official stamp of approval from council, that doesn’t mean everything will be designed exactly as laid out in the plan.
“What I really don’t want council and the public to lose sight of is that the plan also requires public sector investment,” said Burke. “We don’t build buildings. We create the atmosphere and the regulations and the setting and environment to allow development to happen and to shape the way that the future of this area will look and feel. We set the context.”
Burke said council’s endorsement does now provide staff with a direction to go in as they begin the process of implementing some of those regulations and to bring the capital requests forward to make some of the necessary infrastructure changes. But this is “not going to happen overnight,” he warned.
Burke said over the next few months he will be sitting down for discussions with planning staff to go over what would be required in relation to changes to the town’s municipal plan and zoning bylaws.
As well, any capital requests for infrastructure improvements wouldn’t come forward until at least 2019 since the town is already into its 2018 budget year, he said.
The new vision for Exit 506 is proposed as a ‘pedestrian-friendly’ village centre concept. The design includes the addition of two new parks, walking trails, bicycle lanes, new sidewalks, more street trees, and opening up the area for new commercial and residential development.
The cost to the town is estimated at about $600,000 but it is likely that work would be done in phases. This work would involve improvements to the main intersection, the streetscapes, realignment of Robson Avenue, the trail network and the two parks.
Burke pointed out that each of these items will be picked away at on a “project-by-project” basis but noted that council is not committed to every proposed idea in the report simply because it has endorsed the plan.
Phil Handrahan, the town’s chief administrative officer, agreed.
“This is a vision document. It’s not necessarily committing to any one specific project or even a development project. Each one of those will come to council on their own time and on their own merit,” he said.
Handrahan said town staff and council are well aware this was a vision strongly supported by the community and it will be used as a “guiding document” for development of that area as decisions come forward.
“We’ll make sure it doesn’t sit on a shelf someplace and come up with a plan and present new information at budget time for you to consider,” he said.
Councillor Bill Evans said he has fully supported the idea of having a study done for the Exit 506 area because he’d like to see development occur there in a more planned way than it was at Exit 504. But he was pleased to know that council’s approval didn’t necessarily mean giving the okay for all the concepts proposed in the document.
“I really like the idea of planning before action . . . to know that, if there was going to be development, how would we do it,” said Evans. “But there are certain components I am not ready to commit to yet.”
He said not only is he unsure about the addition of two more parks to the town’s already existing parks, but he is also concerned over the lack of attention to the potential flood risks in the plan. He believes there should be more awareness raised on this issue, as the area is in close proximity to the flood plain boundaries.
“If we stick our heads in the sand on this issue, we risk getting wet,” said Evans.
Councillor Megan Mitton said she likes the new vision for the Exit 506 area and was pleased to give her endorsement to the proposed ideas of adding more green spaces, active living opportunities, as well as a welcoming and walkable atmosphere. She added that she doesn’t believe Sackville needs to halt development because of the flood risk but the town does need to have a bigger conversation about long-term solutions surrounding the issue.
