Busy month for Town of CBS land transfers
By Craig Westcott
The Town of CBS is making a number of land transactions that will take bits and bobs off its books, settles a boundary issue with Paradise, and transfer portions of two roads to the harbour authority.
The first transactions involve land running along the backs of properties at 72, 74 and 78 Scotts Road South. The parcels measure 400 m2, 350 m2, and 290 m2, respectively.
Councillor-at-large Rex Hillier said the parcels are adjacent to the residential properties cited.
“Council is of the opinion that the real property is of minimal value to any other person,” said Hillier. “These are properties that came our way as a result of leftovers from the construction of Peacekeepers Way. It was offered up some time ago and it’s just at this point now where these residents have come forward and said, ‘We’d like to purchase these at this point in time.’ Because it’s adjacent to these properties, we’re of the opinion that they are the right people to be purchasing them.”
The motion to approve the sale passed unanimously, with only Ward 4 councillor Melissa Hardy abstaining because she has a relative on the street.
The next transaction involved sections of Church Road and Terminal Road, which the Town is turning over to the Long Pond Harbour Authority.
The move sees council permanently closing 255 linear metres of the northernmost portion of Terminal Road and 135 linear metres of the easternmost portion of Church Road up to its intersection with Terminal Road.
“These portions of the roads serve no public function,” said Hillier reading from a motion prepared for council.
The transfer will include all above ground and subterranean infrastructure on those parts of the two streets, which the Long Pond Harbour Authority can now use “for economic development purposes,” Hillier added.
“There is a feeling that we will be best served with these properties under the jurisdiction of the Long Pond port, particularly as Church Road will provide an emergency exit from the port, which does not exist now, and that’s certainly a concern,” said Hillier. “Church Road is not going to be another industrial access road to the port.”
Mayor Darrin Bent added the transfer will allow the port to ensure its portion of Church Road is accessible during an emergency evacuation, which is important to a facility of that size.
“And I believe the portion of Terminal Road falls within the industrial area and allows the port authority now to develop that area with that road as it sees fit, because it serves no public use purpose in that area,” Bent said. “They can (now) allow their partners and businesses down there to expand and do the work that they need to do, and they can take over the maintenance of that road going forward, and that’s fine by me.”
That option too passed unanimously.
The next land swap involved two parcels on the border with the Town of Paradise near Haliburton Street.
Hillier said the changes are based on a feasibility study prepared by Stantec Consulting. The report set out a proposed new boundary that will allow for more housing development without lots straddling the border and effectively being located inside both towns simultaneously.
“This has been ongoing for some time and basically all we’re doing is swapping two pieces of land with the Town of Paradise to make a more sensible boundary,” Hillier said. “It’s great to see it come though. We’ve got at least one developer who’s been working on this for at least 10 years trying to get this straightened out and we encourage our friends in Paradise, if they haven’t already done so, to act on this so that we get it off to the Province and get it finalized.”
The final land swap affected a turnaround on Talcville Road in Long Pond.
The Town is permanently closing some 110 square metres at the end of Talcville Road “in consideration that this portion of the road right of way no longer serves a public function,” Hillier said.
The land is being sold to Regal Enterprises Inc., for $3,716, plus an administrative fee of $500, so that the company can use it as part of the subdivision being developed between Talcville Road and Tim Hortons Restaurant.
“Basically, up until recently, Talcville Road was a dead end with a turning circle,” said Hillier. “As a result of the Regal development that’s intersecting Talcville Road now, that turning circle will not be required, so some of the land that was part of that initial turning circle is now being purchased by Regal Enterprises for their development.”
That motion also passed unanimously.