Next phase of St. Thomas Line project to add 63 houses, plus apartments
By Mark Squibb
Paradise council has approved Phase 3 of the Jonathan Park development off St. Thomas Line.
Phase 3 consists of 63 residential units and is subject to 35 conditions, covering everything from open space to sightlines. The phase was approved during the August 11 public meeting, but council discussed the application at length during the Committee of the Whole meeting the week prior.
Much of the discussion centered around the potential traffic impact on both adjacent Deborah Lynn Heights and Camrose Drive.
“The anticipation from planning (department) is that Jonathan Drive will be the main road for traffic,” explained councillor Sheldon Antle. “It’s wider, it’s new, residents will be on that street. It’s a straight shot onto St. Thomas Line, so you’re not really gaining anything by going around and trying to get onto Deborah Lynn Heights to get down, basically the same hill. So, it’s not anticipated that it will put pressure onto Deborah Lynn Heights.”
Antle added that staff are aware that Camrose Drive is in need of work, and that as he understood it, an estimate was being prepared for budget considerations.
Regarding the potential impact on traffic, councillor Glen Carew asked where subsidiary apartments will be permitted, and Antle confirmed the Residential Medium Density (RMD) zoning does allow for subsidiary apartments.
Carew argued the potential for those apartments could substantially increase traffic in the area beyond what was initially projected.
He noted further that the traffic plan refers to “a longer-term road connection along the Paradise – St. John’s municipal boundary.” Carew wondered if this was a reference to the long-promised connection to the Outer Ring Road or a road connecting directly to Camrose.
That connection, said Antle, will be determined by the provincial government.
Carew said while Paradise remains the envy of many communities across the provinces given it’s explosive growth, many residents – and the Town’s own traffic plan –tell him that roadwork has simply not kept pace.
“It’s unfortunate that anytime a big development comes to council – and I won’t speak for anybody else – but I get a little nervous,” said Carew. “This should be good news. I should feel great about another 140 units (across two phases) and I do in some regards because we talk regularly about budgeting, the cost of fuel, the cost of salt, the cost of labour, heat, light, asphalt, everything that you need to run any municipality in the province, not just the Town of Paradise, that stuff is ever increasing…. And residents tell us to slow development because we need to catch up, but development is required for a municipality to keep progressing. So, what should be a great feeling for me, to say, ‘Yea’ to 140 units plus subsidiary apartments, I cringe at, and I shouldn’t feel that way.”
While Carew added that having that many vehicles in a neighbourhood is troubling, he would vote in favour of the development. However, he was absent from the August 11 public meeting when council voted on the matter.
Councillor Jennifer Hiscock, meanwhile, noted that at some point a crosswalk may need to be installed so that residents from Jonathan Drive can safely cross St. Thomas Line on their way to Reardon Avenue Park.