TRURO – Two apartment buildings containing 102 units will be built on Truro’s flood plain despite pleas against the proposal.
“Who’s going to be responsible (for) my property after the flood is created?” area resident Francis Collins asked Monday. “I am going to hold the town responsible of all my properties because I’ll take you as far as I can.”
Ron Wallace Realty Limited was granted approval to construct the two buildings at 16 Park St. subject to a favourable traffic impact statement. There is also a 14-day appeal period from when the decision is advertised.
The development will include the construction of two five-storey buildings situated on Marshland Drive. The first will be a 39-unit building with construction beginning in the spring of 2011, while the second would begin in the spring of 2014 and contain 63 units. Both would include a ground floor parking garage as well as surface parking.
For his part, Wallace said he wouldn’t be building the homes if he thought they were going to flood. He said the buildings are going to be built above the flood plain.
“My personal opinion on the flood plain is it really doesn’t affect the residents any more than it does now,” he said. “People that had built below flood standards are going to flood whether I build buildings or not.”
The proposal is slightly different from one council refused in 2007 when Wallace proposed three buildings containing 114 units. Council did not permit the application at the time because of impacts on the surrounding area and development on the flood plain.
On Monday, Ward 1 Coun. Diane Bennett Cook expressed concerns with rising
water levels.
“That’s an area that floods on a regular basis,” she said, noting her concerns with the size of the proposal and its location.
Director of planning Jason Fox said a 1998 study concluded the property could be developed the same as Robie Street has been. “These are the rules we have on the books,” he said.
The property is zoned multiple unit residential, while the future land use designation is low density residential. A town planning strategy allows council to consider multiple unit residential developments in a low density residential area if the development is situated on the periphery of an established residential neighbourhood and the development has frontage on a collector or arterial road.
Wallace currently owns two 12-unit buildings near the corner of Marshland Drive
and Park Street and is proposing to use the same driveway for the new buildings. A right turn only exit onto Marshland Drive is also proposed.
Ward 1 Coun. Raymond Tynes declared a potential conflict of interest for statements he made in the Truro Daily News before the hearing. Tynes, who had opposed the original application, told this newspaper in December 2009 he believed the redesign recognized the concerns of the nearby residents and he would not oppose the development if it satisfied the traffic and fire authorities and other codes.
jmalloy@trurodaily.com
