CBS on verge of a new housing boom

By Craig Westcott / June 16, 2023

Mortgage rates are high and building supplies are scarce and costly, but none of that appears to be slowing what is shaping up to be a development boom in Conception Bay South.

At Tuesday’s public council meeting, six subdivision applications moved further along the planning process pipeline leading towards diggers in the ground and hammers banging nails.

“This has been a busy time at (the) planning and development (department),” admitted councillor-at-large Rex Hillier, who chairs the committee that oversees the department. “Of course, it’s the building season, it’s spring, people are getting ready for the summer, and it’s busy enough to the point that our committee (which includes Deputy Mayor Andrea Gosse and Ward 4 councillor Melissa Hardy) over the last month had to meet three times to get through the items being brought forward so that we’d be ready for this evening. We’ve got 21 agenda items to bring forward tonight.”

While a large number of the items were requests for council to use its discretionary authority to allow applications to erect fences and build sheds and houses that don’t quite meet the Town’s development rules, the meat of the committee’s report concerned subdivision applications that brings the number of new building lots approved this year to just over 250. That’s in addition to subdivision expansions approved last year and expected to move forward this summer, and other possible developments on the horizon such as a subdivision proposed for an area near the back of Tim Horton’s in Long Pond. 

The first subdivision to come up for discussion Tuesday, meanwhile, is one under development at 160 – 180 Spruce Hill Road. Hillier recommended the 24-lot project be approved in principle. The Town has also agreed to take ownership of a ribbon of land along Fowlers Brook and deem it Public Open Space. A so-called “hybrid wired utility system,” which includes both aerial and underground service lines in the front yards, will provide electricity to the homes.

“I know that we’ve had some residents reach out to us and that Planning has responded to most of them, and one of the concerns, of course, is traffic in the area,” said Mayor Darrin Bent. “When you’re adding more houses, you’re adding more cars. So, I think when it comes to Spruce Hill Road it’s something that we want to keep an eye on with regards to traffic, because along parts of Spruce Hill the ditches are not filled in and it’s narrow that way. I think it’s something council needs to keep on its radar for upgrades in coming projects in that area. It’s great to have houses in this fantastic residential area, but it’s also incumbent on us to keep an eye on the infrastructure to support the houses that are going there. We have a growing subdivision as well up on Buckingham that services out of that area.”

The next development on the agenda is located off Dunns Hill Road in Foxtrap. Council agreed to start public consultations on an application to rezone some 14.6 hectares of land west of Jimmy Drive and Dennis Road to allow for future phases of the Dunns Hill Road subdivision.

Hillier noted Phase I of the subdivision is pretty much complete. “This is an expansion of that, but there are some areas there that need to be rezoned in order for it to move ahead,” he explained.

The next subdivision getting a look from council is located at 41 – 83 and 40 – 64 Boggans Lane, in Topsail. 

Hillier said seven lots will be developed. Like the Spruce Hill development, the Town is agreeing to take ownership of the strip of land along a brook in the area and deem it Public Open Space.

In an interview after the meeting, Hillier explained the Town has been moving away in recent years from insisting on tot lots in new developments and instead taking money from developers in amounts that represent the value of land that would otherwise be deemed for recreation. It has been then turning those funds towards larger recreational projects, such as the new community park in Long Pond. The new policy that sees the Town taking ownership of riparian areas in new developments, that is to say the banks of rivers and streams, is in accord with the new strategic plan to connect recreational areas together throughout the town by means of hiking and walking trains along the riverbanks. Many of the town’s rivers and brooks already have historically used paths running along their banks.

Mayor Bent was glad to see the Boggans Lane development moving ahead.

“This is one of those projects that has been on the plate of council for many years,” he noted. “It came to an application four or five years ago and now we’re here finally getting to the stage where the landowners can develop that piece of land at the top of Boggans. It’s good to be able to move forward on this. I know they had some great ideas and to know that it’s seven lots in a large area like that is certainly appropriate given the landscape up at the top of Boggans Lane.”

Hillier said four of the houses will be built on Residential Low Density sized lots, and three will be estate sized lots.

“It’s going to be a nice development,” he agreed.

Hopewell Gardens Subdivision in Seal Cove was the next project on the agenda. Council gave approval in principle for the developer to go ahead with 50 lots at 1287 – 1293 and 1297 – 1315 Conception Bay Highway. The two clauses regarding hybrid front yard wired utility systems and council taking ownership of the banks of a stream in the area were included in the motion to approve the project.

Hillier pointed out this particular development is interesting because it crosses two zoning boundaries with different standards as to lot sizes and housing types. “So, it’s going to be an interesting combination of housing types in that development,” he said.

Ward 4 councillor Melissa Hardy, who represents the area, said many residents in the vicinity of the development have raised concerns about water run-off “to the point that we did have a public consultation with an independent commissioner. So, it’s really important that the net zero run-off is built into the engineering designs,” she added.

The next housing project up for consideration pertained to 135-137 Seal Cove Road and 7 – 17 Aprils Lane where council approved a request to change the zoning from low to medium. The application has been before council several times as it worked its way through the zoning change process. It will allow the owner of the land to develop seven or eight lots.

“I’m sure the developers will be glad to start putting their shovels in the ground and going to work in Seal Cove,” Hillier said.

Similarly, the final subdivision on the agenda, at 240 – 258 Anchorage Road, has also been before council several times as it had to go through the provincial government’s rules for rezoning. Hillier noted a public hearing was held on the project and the report of an independent commissioner was presented at council’s last meeting. 

“The committee has had a look at the report, the committee has had a look at the results of meetings with residents, at written submissions that have come in on this and we’re in a position now to recommend that we go forward and approve these amendments,” he said. 

Hillier pointed out the various subdivisions just discussed are sprinkled throughout CBS – in Topsail, Long Pond, Foxtrap and Seal Cove. “It’s nice to see that kind of development continuing,” he said.

“Yes, there are lots of people choosing to live in Conception Bay South,” said Mayor Bent. “It’s good to see.”