[0:01] okay good evening everyone and welcome to everyone joining the live stream I

[0:06] will call to order this uh public hearing to consider an amendment to

[0:12] bylaw 2-10 the Ross a zoning bylaw to rezone lands located at school Avenue

[0:18] and Caitlyn Street P IDs 301 6708 and 3014

[0:25] 6674 and these will be shown shown on the map here um from single family

[0:31] residential standard Zone r1b to multi-unit residential R4 to allow for a

[0:38] 54 unit Town Home Development subject to the execution of a development agreement

[0:43] in accordance with Community planning act Supra so

[0:48] um just the procedure tonight I will review the

[0:53] documentation and then the developer Steven mby will present his project and

[0:58] we'll take questions from Council Town manager jarvey will appear for the

[1:02] town and uh questions from councel I will then call for those wishing to

[1:07] speak against the project and then those wishing to speak for the project and if

[1:13] there any if there are any objections I will allow the developer to have the

[1:18] last word and we will then adjourn the meeting then Council will not be

[1:23] considering this um proposal this evening so the documentation um the town

[1:30] clerk prepared a memorandum advertising the meeting and it was posted twice to

[1:34] the website it was also posted to social media on October 30th November 1st 7th

[1:41] 9th 15th 17th and 20th you have the draft by law 2-

[1:47] p-36 and you have a draft development agreement you have a recommendation from

[1:53] the planning advisory committee November the 15th and a staff report to the

[1:59] planning advisory committee November the 3D and no comments were received on the

[2:04] proposal and so with that I will ask um Steven Maly the developer to present his

[2:10] proposal

[2:22] please can I Advance the slides from

[2:28] here good evening mayor Grant Council staff

[2:33] and citizens my name is Steven Malby I'm the owner operator of Mr Investments Inc

[2:40] a real estate development company operating here in Ros tonight I'll be

[2:44] presenting an opportunity for the development of a new residential

[2:48] subdivision Our Town Glen Gary Estates it will address the need for more

[2:54] housing in our community more specifically it will provide much needed

[2:58] options for both longtime residents looking to

[3:02] downsize and young families searching for their first

[3:08] home we are all well aware of the many housing challenges our country is facing

[3:12] coast to coast and we're not immune here at home the challenge in Ros is that

[3:18] there are very few housing options for seniors looking to downsize and young

[3:23] families seeking home

[3:28] ownership so the question is do you know how many homes are currently for sale in

[3:36] Ras 15 this was the number on November the 15th when my presentation was uh

[3:44] presented for

[3:47] tonight how about the average price of currently listed home in

[3:55] Ras over $700,000 was the average price of a home

[3:59] home currently listed in mls in Ros on November the

[4:04] 15th that's not a lot of options for existing residents who are looking to

[4:09] find a new home that meets their current needs while also staying in our

[4:13] community and it's not a lot of options for newcomers wishing to enjoy the many

[4:18] benefits our town has to offer and let's not forget about our

[4:22] kids who might want to settle down with their young

[4:28] families for a significant portion of our

[4:33] citizens with an average home price over $700,000 this means home ownership is

[4:39] simply not

[4:44] attainable the definitely is an opportunity however to make this better

[4:49] tonight I'm asking for your support of our town home subdivision glenar States

[4:55] we envision glenara States as a community where attainability

[5:00] is at the heart of every home we build it's a place designed where seniors can

[5:05] Embrace a new chapter without forfeiting the Comforts they've earned where young

[5:10] families can put down roots in an environment that's as nurturing as it is

[5:16] secure and where ease and accessibility come standard with one level

[5:21] living our focus is on making such an inclusive community a reality for our

[5:26] citizens where every generation can find a home that fits their lifestyle and

[5:34] budget as recognized earlier everybody is well aware of the many housing

[5:39] challenges currently facing all Canadians just recently the cmhc warned

[5:46] all of us of the significant challenge ahead Canada will need 3.5 million more

[5:53] units on top of what's already being built by

[5:57] 2030 we were also recently reminded that the cost of housing whether home

[6:02] ownership or renting is getting very

[6:09] expensive new brunwick is not immune to this housing crisis we too are feeling

[6:14] the effects of housing shortages since covid we have seen a

[6:19] record number of people continuing to move in our Province and as the

[6:23] telegraph Journal reported between July 2021 and

[6:28] 2023 New Brunswick's population grew by 41,000 that's the same amount of growth

[6:35] in two years as our Province experienced in 37 years Between

[6:40] 1979 and 2016 many Canadians from Ontario and

[6:46] other parts of Canada along with immigrants from around the world are

[6:50] starting to recognize the value that we have to offer and is driving up both the

[6:55] demand and cost for housing of all types and it is not not going away anytime

[7:02] soon as an example of the impact impact of the increased population the Greater

[7:08] St John area will need to sustain 1,500 new housing starts per year currently

[7:16] that number sits at 670 new starts in 2023 so there's a lot of hard work ahead

[7:23] and it's going to take an unprecedented effort from government developers and

[7:28] builders in our own

[7:32] town we have very limited options of the 15 homes currently listed

[7:39] for sale in Ras there were only three under

[7:44] $400,000 and these three homes were built in

[7:48] 1960 1974 and 1975 it's apparent we need more homes

[7:56] for downsizers young families and those

[7:59] looking for one level living I realize that what I'm sharing

[8:04] tonight is not a surprise it's not a surprise to our town staff and councel

[8:09] earlier this year Our Town submitted an application to the federal government's

[8:14] housing accelerator fund for $5.6 million to support infrastructure and

[8:20] Housing Development as a developer I'm hopeful this request is

[8:25] realized just a few days ago it was announced that monton received CE $15

[8:30] million from this very same fund as you can see in this Telegraph Journal

[8:35] Telegraph Journal article published on September 17th mayor Grant specifically

[8:40] pointed out there is a need in our town for housing that one addresses the

[8:44] missing middle and two makes effective use of existing infrastructure I.E

[8:50] infill

[8:53] development that is exactly what our development Glen Gary Estates will

[8:58] achieve we will increase density in an area that

[9:01] is perfectly situated as we capitalize on the existing

[9:05] infrastructure and our new development will consist of the types of homes that

[9:09] are considered the missing Middle Town Homes with two different models Glen

[9:15] Gary Estates will provide homes that offer longtime residents and downsizers

[9:20] one level living also homes will also offer two Lev living for families and

[9:27] first home time homeowners these homes will be homes that are

[9:34] attainable so what does attainable mean it means it's people would be able

[9:41] to move into a home that is more affordable than a detached single family

[9:46] home they are homes that will have mortgages that are similar to

[9:51] two-bedroom apartment rentals there are homes that would be an

[9:55] option for young families with full-time employment earning 20 to $25 an hour

[10:01] there are homes that will allow seniors to sell their existing homes and move

[10:05] into homes that match their current needs without leaving the town of

[10:12] Ros our proposal is to develop a subdivision consisting of the missing

[10:16] middle in an area that has been designated by Council for medium density

[10:20] residential development as you can see on the future land use map from page 126

[10:26] in the municipal plan Glen garas States is proposed for land that is next to

[10:31] existing town homes and would be located in the heart of a much wider medium

[10:36] density designated area of our community so if you can see where I wrote on it or

[10:41] highlighted it that's where we're proposing to the left of it are town

[10:46] homes on Caitlyn and to the right is future development for medium density

[10:53] housing and this is page 37 of the municipal plan that clearly outlines the

[10:58] details of medium density housing and its Associated

[11:01] benefits currently only 3% of the entire land mass in Ras contains medium density

[11:08] housing and this is exactly why it's called the missing

[11:13] middle the home in this picture is an actual picture of one of the garden

[11:17] homes on Caitlyn Street which connects to our property that we wish to

[11:27] develop can you oh there we go so our

[11:34] request we request approval of a resoning and subsequent development of a

[11:38] 54 unit Town Home Development on land that has already been designated

[11:43] thoroughly investigated and designated for medium density residential

[11:47] development as recognized in the municipal plan in our subdivision there

[11:51] will be eight blocks each block will have either six

[11:56] or seven units within it and there will be a b as mentioned before there will be

[11:59] a mix of one level and two level

[12:03] units so what is our motivation infill development increased

[12:10] density and reduced footprint are all necessary if we want to address our

[12:14] housing needs and when I think about our proposal and its potential I think back

[12:19] about my own personal housing situation as a young family I remember how

[12:24] stressful it was renting a two-bedroom apartment in uptown St John with my wife

[12:28] and then 18-month-old daughter we had tenants living above us and

[12:33] unfortunately my daughter was Kaki so each night when she woke crying the

[12:38] tenants would stomp on the ceiling above our bedroom and scream to have us

[12:42] quieted our daughter it was awful and it caused a lot of stress for all of us it

[12:48] is one of our goals to prevent this from happening to others by building

[12:53] attainable housing we seek to provide young families with their own home for a

[12:57] similar cost of rent ing a new two-bedroom apartment in the

[13:01] valley except it we'll have a backyard a place for a barbecue and the peace of

[13:05] mind that their child can cry without bothering

[13:10] anyone to summarize this development is important

[13:15] for many reasons IT addresses the need for

[13:18] housing in general it answers our prime minister's

[13:22] call to action it answers our mayor's call to

[13:25] action for missing middle and infill development it provides housing that is

[13:31] attainable provides an option for downsizing for young families and for

[13:35] firsttime buyers versus renting and it makes effective use of existing

[13:41] infrastructure blang area states complies with and is supported by the

[13:46] municipal plan is supported and recommended by the staff is supported by

[13:52] local residents after face-to-face visits and it's time a comparable model

[13:58] in of Shadow Hill which was established 40 years ago

[14:07] 1983 thank you for the opportunity to present Laria

[14:11] States thank you Mr Malby um I will open it to questions from

[14:19] Council councilor Shay I just have the one question um thank you for your

[14:25] presentation um I think before pacu had indicated

[14:30] this was going to be a several year construction phase with several phases

[14:36] with those phases be continuous I.E like over seven years but steady or do you

[14:42] see it as two years and maybe a year break and

[14:46] two years again down the road no so to answer your question uh

[14:52] Our intention is to have this completed within 36 months after approval the

[14:57] whole thing the whole thing oh oh beautiful thank

[15:00] you Deputy Mayor yeah thank you for your

[15:05] presentation and uh you know thank you for um identifying the uh the need for

[15:09] these uh units in our in our community it's uh is definitely a need there's

[15:14] town homes are few and far between and uh this is an excellent uh idea that

[15:19] you're presenting um one question I or two questions I had one was you have the

[15:24] different blocks and you have option buildings A and buildings B so I'm

[15:28] assuming that the one levels are the ones that are sort the option b which is

[15:33] the front few streets and then building up to level twos correct okay that is

[15:38] correct okay that's good and the second one is just looking at the conceptual

[15:43] plan um I know there's limited space on the one end but the trail comes really

[15:50] close to the buildings I guess was there an option to move the trail a little bit

[15:54] outside the to give the backyard I guess a little bit more room and and those

[15:58] areas I guess there yes I'm actually working with staff on moving there is

[16:03] some flexibility and Mr jarvey could also answer that question but we we did

[16:07] look at how we could make the the rear yard bigger okay great thank you

[16:14] y anyone else councelor Lewis councelor Bo councelor Brown any questions my

[16:20] light on councelor Lewis um just on the single level units what's square footage

[16:26] we're we're anticipating around 14 1,00 on one single level and what about the

[16:31] two level the two level could be a similar we're looking we're we're we're

[16:37] testing from 1,200 to 1500 square feet whether it's one level and or two

[16:45] levels thank

[16:50] you councilor Brown um my question is with seniors if

[16:56] uh there's we have older people that are moving out of their house to uh move

[17:01] into somewhere um are are these obviously not going to be barrier free

[17:07] units for the for the seniors but is is there going to be some provision so if

[17:12] somebody did wind up in a in a wheelchair or something like that that

[17:15] they would be able to to live there without having to move again I guess

[17:20] would be you know like wider doors wider hallways anything like that is there

[17:24] Provisions for some stuff like that or I just my fear is if the elderly people

[17:29] move somewhere think this is where we're going to spend our days and then uh

[17:34] something happens and they have to move again or not maybe able to renovate or

[17:38] something like that yes so we we are looking at making some of these units

[17:43] barrier free much like new multi-unit uh buildings that require or encourage some

[17:49] and we are looking at doing the same thing because for the same reason you're

[17:52] suggesting we're we're trying to address a concern and that is where does our

[17:57] seniors go where where can they go in our community without having to leave

[18:01] but have the home that works for them and so instead of going 90% of the way

[18:06] we're going to try to go 100% of the way for those people I think of my mother

[18:10] for example who lives in a two- Lev home by herself and eventually that going

[18:16] upstairs to to the B to the one bathroom and to to the bedroom is not doesn't

[18:21] work so yes we we're having an open mind but that is the audience we're targeting

[18:26] and we're going to try to make it such that when they move in they can stay

[18:31] Thank you and along that same line is it proposed that property care will be part

[18:36] of this yes yes like a home ownership ship Association where the services will

[18:43] be provided package there will be a fee like a home ownership fee and I did I

[18:47] did meet with the people um at uh Shadow Hill to understand how they've been

[18:54] doing it they've been 40 years doing it and I spoke with the gentleman that's

[18:57] been in charge of it it um and they've probably got one of the best methods of

[19:04] organization and and making sure that one their Community is well serviced and

[19:09] everybody understands the services that they are receiving and what they're

[19:12] responsible for so I'm going to be leaning on them to help with that but to

[19:16] answer your question yes good thank you anyone

[19:22] else so I will ask Town manager jarvey to speak for the town please thank you

[19:36] worship staff have reviewed this proposal and worked with Mr Maly on some

[19:42] of the details and what's up on the screen now

[19:45] is the parcel land at the foot of school

[19:50] Avenue the row of houses at the at the right of

[19:56] the of the land is Kon Street and there is Municipal Water in

[20:01] cavan street so this site can be serviced the path that you saw on the

[20:08] previous diagram you bring that

[20:13] up it runs over a sanitary sewer a trunk sewer that comes from a wban CIS sewer

[20:20] lagon and we expect that that servicing of this property is relatively

[20:27] straightforward also paralleling the path and the tracks

[20:31] the uh Salmon Creek runs there and with some

[20:36] detention to keep the land to keep the the banks

[20:44] uh stable we would be able to drain the lot the lands directly into Salmon Creek

[20:51] and from there down to the river so there's no drainage issues as far as

[20:55] surrounding land is concerned the site is

[20:59] serviced there's a road Network there and one of the one of the advantages of

[21:06] this site as far as long-term development is the possibility of

[21:13] extending extending East or what is left on this

[21:19] figure and uh eventually that would allow us to connect roads on some of the

[21:25] roads like uh Jones and uh Ellis that are F the E so we would get more than

[21:31] one entrance into this neighborhood we right now we're limited to a single

[21:38] entrance so we've reviewed the project prepared the development

[21:43] agreement that you have in your package the developer would be responsible for

[21:48] all the cost to connect to the services and to develop the roads and the

[21:53] services on site we've had comments from the fire

[21:58] fire department and I'm not sure about the police but the fire department and

[22:02] there doesn't seem to be any any issues there so from the staff standpoint this

[22:08] project meets and we agree with Mr Mal's presentation this meets a need in the

[22:14] community it's a need that otherwise isn't being addressed right at the

[22:18] moment so we would support the project the planning advisory committee has

[22:23] voted to support the project you see the recommendation in your

[22:26] package and so ultimately the Motions that would be in front of you would be

[22:31] to support uh the the rezoning of the parcel to of the two Parcels together

[22:38] both owned by Mr Investments uh from from the current

[22:43] zoning to r1b to R4 multi-unit there's also the requirement

[22:50] for development agreement that you'll be asked to

[22:53] authorize and the can we bring up the next

[22:59] next one goes to that the dark green on this uh on this

[23:05] scretch shows the land that the developer proposes to give to the

[23:10] town as part of land for public purposes so there's a requirement for land for

[23:15] public purposes this is not uh land that'll be used for play fields or

[23:20] anything like that in its current I State and it's not this won't change

[23:26] the salon Creek runs through this land so this is primarily a buffer from the

[23:32] railroad and uh does allow as it as I was saying earlier um an opportunity to

[23:39] manage the drainage to the question about the the dep mayor's question about

[23:45] the trail lying close to the back of the properties the

[23:49] trail sits on the easement for the sanitary sewer name however we think

[23:56] there is room to move the trail itself we wouldn't be moving the the main but

[24:00] we could move the trail a little bit toward the creek and uh make for better

[24:06] backyards and a couple of those

[24:10] units I think that's all for now your worship I can try and answer questions

[24:15] if Council hasn't okay open up for questions Council councilor Shay um just

[24:21] the one question um John you mentioned the possibility of taking um I take it

[24:28] to be storm water or whatever over to Salmon Creek is

[24:32] that nobe I'll point out Salmon

[24:38] Creek this is Salmon Creek running here go under the tracks

[24:45] here under the tracks here and then down so that's that's essentially what we're

[24:52] talking about in decree the proper drop

[24:56] structure and so so the infrastructure under the tracks is already there yes

[25:01] yes okay thank you Deputy Mayor okay thank you your worship just

[25:08] looking at the um the the developers agreement uh item number three it states

[25:14] that the developer agrees that only Caitlyn Street shall be used for for all

[25:17] construction Machinery heavy equipment and related construction vehicles during

[25:21] week days from September until June June inclusive but I guess how are they going

[25:26] to get to Caitlyn street because Caitlyn runs set the back so are they accessing

[25:31] it via Isaac Street or School Avenue it would be Isa Street okay the concept

[25:38] there is that we do have the children are in school from September until June

[25:44] and there would be the traffic is congested there as it is we think that

[25:48] moving construction traffic in the immediate vicinity of the school is

[25:53] bound to cause some safety issues and some problems and some of which perhaps

[25:59] would be just traffic congestion but there's also certainly safety issue so

[26:03] the developer Mr Maly is agreed that that's a reasonable

[26:08] approach okay and then uh to the town engineer I guess just uh looking at the

[26:13] water supply sanitary and uh fire water supply I'm assuming that we've we have

[26:18] ample supply for all all uh all of that correct three your worship at this point

[26:25] yeah that's the Assumption the calculations have done yet but we

[26:29] anticipate that that will be fine great thank

[26:32] you anyone

[26:38] else okay I will now then call for anyone wishing to speak against this

[26:46] proposal would you come to the microphone and state your name sure okay

[26:56] please

[27:01] my name is Russell McDonald I live at 30 Caitlyn uh I'm not necessarily

[27:05] completely opposed to the project but I do have some questions on it um I had

[27:10] never received a letter in the mail which I thought was surprising uh the

[27:14] only reason I knew about it is I don't go check the town website every day but

[27:17] uh counselor told me that this meeting was going on tonight but coming down

[27:22] Isaac coming out of Isaac in the morning is almost impossible now uh you're

[27:26] showing the road going up school Avenue which is going right by the school which

[27:30] joins on to Isaac where's all the traffic going to go are we going to have

[27:34] traffic lights on the good Point Road and Isaac because right now getting out

[27:38] of there in the morning is impossible because even though you're supposed to

[27:42] be going 30 down gooda Point nobody goes 30 down G point so I don't know if

[27:47] that's been addressed I'm assuming it has but I didn't hear anything about it

[27:50] tonight so I just had some concerns about the traffic not so much on the

[27:54] construction side because I mean it's construction um but afterwards when

[27:57] there's 58 new residents in pretty much less of a footprint than what our

[28:02] Caitlyn town homes are over 24 units thank you Mr McDon I think maybe

[28:08] I'll ask Town manager if he'll respond to that well there's a couple things to

[28:12] worship I think the point's well taken and I'm sure a number of the people in

[28:15] the room have that same question we think the traffic volumes in

[28:21] that area are sufficient now even without this development to generate the

[28:26] need for some traffic control so some sort of a traffic control device now the

[28:32] exact location we're still looking at there may be a better location than the

[28:36] is Condola point intersection that would still kind of relieve the traffic there

[28:41] so that's one aspect the uh and and that wouldn't wait until the end of this

[28:47] project necessarily could be sooner than that the the other thing was what I

[28:52] mentioned earlier we are in a little bit of a

[28:56] thing now where we can't can't do we can introduce traffic signals but we still

[29:01] only have one way in and out of that subdivision so this this project in the

[29:07] opinion of Staff would be the first step in getting us an alternate exit an

[29:12] alternate exit can be valuable from a number of standpoints certainly in case

[29:15] of emergencies and and traffic congestion and so forth so that's the

[29:20] that's kind of the Long View is that there will be an an alternate ultimately

[29:25] an alternate way of getting in and out the subdivision but in the short short

[29:29] range we'd be looking at some kind of traffic signals somewhere in that

[29:35] somewhere in the Gondola Point Vincent road to Isaac Street area most

[29:41] likely is there anyone else wishing to speak against the

[29:46] project yes could you come to the microphone

[29:52] please hi my name is Tracy Davis and thank you for the opportunity to ask a

[29:56] question and thank you for the present ation for the information it's nice to

[29:59] have that context um I just want to reinforce the point about traffic and

[30:03] congestion just to add into perspective that we have probably around 50 plus

[30:10] houses right now in like the Isaac page Caitlyn area and it's a small footprint

[30:15] for those homes on Caitlyn so we're looking to add 54 homes with just say

[30:21] two vehicles per home then you're looking at D you know you're looking at

[30:25] doubling the traffic that's already there and I just want to put into

[30:28] perspective as well to add context for the traffic side that you have school

[30:31] buses and you have a lot of people with the work brushes like leaving early in

[30:35] the morning so it is already quite congested on top of activities such as

[30:39] like construction further down Clark Road where it intersects with Gondola

[30:43] Point I believe they're looking at adding um a traffic signal of some sort

[30:48] there as well so I appreciate that there is a gap and like a real need for

[30:52] seniors and the homes that were mentioned um I don't believe that the

[30:57] area that we're looking at would solve all of that without really impacting the

[31:01] people who do live in that area as well um I am new to Ras I've only been living

[31:07] here about a year but what I love about it is that it feels like a small

[31:12] community with all of the amenities but you keep that small community feel with

[31:16] the pockets of subdivisions that we have because they aren't expansive or mass

[31:22] traffic volumes and you know we're we're fortunate to have the school where we do

[31:26] but it's also a great location because it's at the beginning of the subdivision

[31:30] from a traffic congestion standpoint for those of us back but for buses and

[31:34] everything so I just wanted to add that context for some sort of additional food

[31:39] for thought as well thank you thank you so traffic

[31:44] concerns is there anyone else wishing to speak against the

[31:56] project hi my name is Wendy Barrett I live at 33 Isaac I have a couple of

[32:01] things actually um this is being referred to as affordable housing can

[32:05] you give me some idea what you're looking at real estate cost for these to

[32:09] sell them ask yes um affordable is not I

[32:16] didn't say affordable I don't want to confuse it with affordable I said it's

[32:20] attainable housing okay so affordable housing

[32:24] according to cmhc is 30% pre-tax income this doesn't meet the qualification for

[32:31] affordable housing okay we're looking to build these homes for 400 in the low

[32:36] $400,000 range okay so in your presentation you

[32:41] said all majority of the homes in the valley are now selling for rasi sorry

[32:45] are selling for the 700,000 range I would dispute that the homes in

[32:50] this District that you're looking at are selling at that price we've had a couple

[32:55] within the last few years that have sold for 400 or up most of those homes are

[33:00] 300 or lower um this property is going to

[33:05] immensely impact our property taxes um which I mean if we build in

[33:12] there and there's other residential homes that may or may not have the same

[33:16] impact it's hard to say but when you're looking at Building 54 Homes at 400,000

[33:21] plus it's definitely going to impact our taxes um so that's one thing I have the

[33:26] other question is I'm not sure that it's actually attainable

[33:31] housing I'm speaking from a personal perspective I have a parent who has been

[33:37] looking for somewhere to go as a senior this is not affordable housing for

[33:43] seniors I work in the community I deal a lot with seniors it's not affordable

[33:48] housing for any of the seniors that I work with in the

[33:51] community um they're all saying the same thing now where do we go we can't

[33:56] downsize because because we can't afford to Brent we can't downsize because to

[33:59] buy something new is more expensive than what we have so we have to stay where we

[34:03] are which isn't feasible so I'm not sure that I agree

[34:08] with being attainable for housing for seniors maybe town houses I don't know

[34:14] but um yes we need housing not sure that I think this is the

[34:20] answer for that area um I also agree that traffic is a

[34:25] huge issue and it's a safety risk for the schools

[34:30] for the school and it doesn't matter which way

[34:33] you go through I mean you're taking she said there's roughly 50

[34:37] houses in that area now most houses have two cars Building 54 more units that's

[34:43] another 108 cars minimum so now we've got a surplus of

[34:49] vehicles a huge influx of people which means traffic itself not just people

[34:53] living there visitors guests delivery trucks yada yada yada um it's just a

[35:00] huge influx on traffic which is more again putting a risk at the kids because

[35:05] that subdivision alone has a huge amount of kids in there just in the residence

[35:09] let alone not the school so that's my concerns I guess thank you is there

[35:15] anyone else wishing to speak against the

[35:20] project second time is there anyone else wishing to speak against the

[35:25] project third and final time is there anyone

[35:30] else wishing to speak against the project hearing none I will call for

[35:36] people wishing to speak in favor of the project is there anyone wishing to speak

[35:42] in favor of the project yeah if you would state your

[35:47] name please yes my name is Shirley Goen and I live on Caitlyn Street very close

[35:53] to the end of the street and I am very much in favor of this project

[36:01] um I think the days of getting a home for

[36:06] $200,000 are over and $400,000 is not

[36:14] unreasonable for young families especially and seniors have their own

[36:21] homes that they're selling and their savings and and Investments and I'm sure

[36:26] that it's very attainable for a great majority of

[36:30] seniors so I really am in favor of this project I think it

[36:37] makes it makes a home for young families far more attainable and

[36:44] accessible I have my own grandson who's um saving for a house now and he keeps

[36:51] saying Nan I don't understand how I'm ever going to be able to afford a home

[36:55] if there's six and 700,000 but this is the type of housing

[37:02] that we need it's really good for the town I mean it's 54 more

[37:09] homes that you're going to have on your tax base I think it's a great concept

[37:14] for young families and and seniors to live in close proximity to be able to

[37:22] enjoy each other if you're if you're living in a house on a three quarter

[37:27] acre lot you're going to put up a fence you're going to have your pool in the

[37:30] backyard and you're not going to bother with any of your neighbors I live in

[37:34] that kind of housing that is being proposed and it's a really nice

[37:39] Community you just feel you feel a part of your your neighborhood and your

[37:45] community it's a great concept and I think a a good marketing

[37:50] strategy is going to attract good people and I don't I don't see anything better

[37:57] for the town of Ros than to have this type of development and that atmosphere

[38:03] so I'm very much in favor thank you thank you is there anyone else wishing

[38:09] to speak in favor of the

[38:15] project Jeff can you take the microphone hi har you Jeff's here I'm the executive

[38:20] director of our economic intelligence 10 minutes oh I won't take 10 minutes don't

[38:24] worry we heard you yeah don't worry I'll I'll be quick but

[38:29] uh with vision St John I'm just here to speak in favor of the project we work

[38:33] with developers in the region and we work quite a bit on trying to understand

[38:37] the regional housing market and what the challenges and you know quite frankly

[38:41] it's it's not news but um you know it's we're certainly in a housing crisis uh

[38:46] we've heard talk about unprecedented demand um last year we did about three

[38:52] we grew by about 3,000 people regionally and we built about 600 homes we doubled

[38:57] going into 600 you know we doubled what we built a few years ago we probably

[39:01] need to get to, 1500 we uh we need the support of every developer we can in the

[39:07] region if we're going to get anywhere near close to that we're probably

[39:10] running at about 40 to 50% of where we need to be as a region right now so it's

[39:16] an immense Hill decline um but it's been a bit of a perfect storm we've been hit

[39:22] with significant increase construction costs rapidly over the last three three

[39:26] and a half years we've seen about a 40 to 60% increase in the cost to uh to

[39:31] build homes which is a significant challenge when you take factor in that

[39:36] incomes have gone up about 8% um interest rates for people looking to buy

[39:43] homes uh average household makes about 90,000 90 plus thousand a year in the

[39:48] region um when you factor in the change in interest rates the buying power of

[39:53] that average household declined about by about

[39:57] $80,000 so at the same time that housing prices have gone up about 50% the

[40:03] ability for people to pay for it they've lost about $80,000 so you know we looked

[40:08] at numbers you know 2019 we estimated typical single family home new

[40:14] construction probably could hit the market 4 to 450 that same product in a

[40:19] very short period of time is now 600,000 to

[40:23] $650,000 per unit it's gone from maybe 40 to 50% population being able to carry

[40:29] that mortgage to about 10 to 15 um so we expect as we've seen in other

[40:35] communities that the model development might change uh it might have to adapt

[40:40] one of the key ways of developer can make housing more affordable is density

[40:46] uh so having more units spreads the cost of land it spreads the cost of building

[40:50] the street infrastructure generally speaking for a townhouse development

[40:55] like this probably could mean anywhere between 50 and $775,000 less spent a

[41:01] unit so the difference between $425,000 home and a $500,000 home for a

[41:07] first-time home buyer nationally this is the trend um in

[41:13] terms of where the housing market has been going as a country uh you know

[41:17] we've seen a 200% increase in apartment construction a 60% increase in townhouse

[41:23] development a 20% decrease roughly in semi- detached and an almost 50%

[41:28] decrease in single family homes and generally speaking most of those have

[41:33] been on smaller and smaller Lots so you know just in conclusion you know

[41:39] generally speaking what we're seeing preliminarily

[41:43] and what we're trying to advise municipalities is that the general form

[41:48] of Housing and Development that we see in the region may change we may see a

[41:52] lot more town houses roow houses semi- detached and fewer single families it's

[41:58] been the trend in areas that dealt with the affordability issue because the cost

[42:03] to build has jumped up so quickly um in the past couple of years it means that

[42:08] as a region we've got to adjust to it overnight and so with that you know

[42:14] we're trying to encourage municipalities that you know we might need to think

[42:18] about different housing forms than perhaps we may have used to obviously

[42:22] you still need to find the right place and and communities need to understand

[42:26] what they want where they want it but uh overall from Market perspective you know

[42:30] that's how we see attainable housing being uh being achieved I'll leave that

[42:35] thank you is there anyone else wishing to speak in favor of the

[42:42] project is there anyone else wishing to speak in favor of the

[42:48] project third and final time is anyone else willing or wishing to speak in

[42:53] favor of the project hearing none since there were

[42:58] some uh issues raised I will uh give Mr Mal be the final word here if you wishes

[43:04] to respond to those comments

[43:09] um no I appreciate the feedback and I I recognize the concern for the traffic

[43:15] undoubtedly just just a few things and um our to manager touched on it briefly

[43:22] in that as the land continues to be developed

[43:26] as the future map shows we are now eliminating what is currently a very

[43:31] long culdesac which in itself creates issues for safety getting in and out Etc

[43:39] with this proposal and the future development to come we would remove that

[43:43] long called the saac and eventually have another exit out of this community so

[43:49] that that would be one thing on the traffic um the other is this type of

[43:54] development is a little different than a multi-unit apartment building for

[43:58] example with let's say 54 units when it's finished boom you get everything

[44:03] all at once this development's over three years it gives us time as Mr

[44:08] jarvey had indicated that there probably already needs some sort of traffic

[44:13] signal uh signal and control and so we have the time to do what is necessary

[44:21] with regards to that as the traffic builds over three years

[44:29] um and and that's that that's it um I just want to say truly we we there's a

[44:35] certainly a need for housing for young families and for

[44:40] seniors is there a perfect spot there's only so much land

[44:46] available this I believe in my opinion this is a very very good location it has

[44:53] existing infrastructure it has water it has

[44:57] sewer it's got the same type of housing adjacent to it it has a school feet away

[45:04] M feet away for young families it's got a well-known well-used play area it's

[45:11] got a walking trail for all for seniors for young people so I do believe it is a

[45:18] very good location for this type of development and I'll leave it at that

[45:22] and thank you for your time thank you uh thank you for your Pres ation thank you

[45:26] Council thank you folks for coming and commenting and with that I will adjourn

[45:32] this public

[45:41] hearing

Public Hearing, Monday, November 20 @ 630pm

Transcript