SHERBROOKE — Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s Warden Greg Wier described the completion of the municipality’s new neighbourhood concept plan for a 50-acre parcel of municipally owned land on Old Road Hill as a “critical milestone.”
Eighty people in total turned out for the unveiling at community meetings on Oct. 2 and 10.
“[It is] the result of over a year of hard work as part of the municipality’s response to the serious housing shortage that St. Mary’s and the rest of the country faces,” Wier told The Journal.
The unveiling sessions followed a number of community consultations in August that attracted 60 attendees.
“The concept plan is about capturing all of the needs and benefits that we want to have incorporated into this neighbourhood, and turning that into a tangible model that we can guide [through] development,” Wier added.
Greg Zwicker, co-founder of Zzap Consulting Inc. – the company hired to design the plan – presented the results of the year-long project.
“This is about developing a vision, a concept, ideas for the land,” he said. “It’s about an opportunity or options to build this concept, for developers, clients or builders who may be interested in coming in to work with the municipality.”
Clarifying that neither his company nor the municipality will be constructing anything on the land, Zwicker added the presentation outlined “ideas, impressions, and available opportunities” for what “could” be built.
Based on public feedback, including from seniors looking to downsize, he explained that the neighbourhood concept plan includes a mix of homes and other structures. The housing types in the design range from single family dwellings of various sizes to apartment units, a seniors ‘pocket’ neighbourhood with a sixteen-unit complex, and even long and short-term rental units. He noted that there can be affordable and market housing combined.
“The plan is not a subdivision, it’s not a cul-de-sac; it’s about a complete community – a preferred development plan,” Zwicker added.
Along with the housing options, the design includes a possible hospital, long-term care facility, commercial development area and even space for doctors or nurses to come in and out of the community. There will also be room for a daycare facility, wellness clinic, long-term rentals, as well as short-term rentals for those needing a place to stay while loved ones are in the care facility or hospital.
“This is not about it all going in tomorrow,” Zwicker said, noting that the completed neighbourhood would include 100-150 units. “It could take five, 10 [or] even 20 years for the project, but it’s about proceeding with the market, with the need, in a planned, thought-out approach from the start.”
He added, “It is an opportunity to bring community together, with a little bit of everything.”
That includes providing access to nearby Stonewall Park – and its walking trails – with green spaces part of the plan.
Zzap Consulting organized the neighbourhood plan into five stages, with Phase 1 including preservation of Stonewall Park. Development will not take place in the watershed protection area and excludes the steepest slopes in the parcel of land.
Phase 2 includes extending services into the area, while defining the community core.
Phase 3 involves the development of a long-term care site, an intergenerational park and Stonewall Park trailhead.
Phase 4 will see construction begin on the 16-unit complex in the seniors’ ‘pocket’ neighbourhood, a flexible commercial front on the Old Road Hill site and a 20-unit building with community care services.
Phase 5 will include the further development of the seniors’ ‘pocket’ neighbourhood, with a projected 20-40 dwellings constructed.
Phase 6 focuses on developing another 16-32 dwellings.
As the project progresses, after starting on the flat land of the acreage, the many south-facing slopes will provide the opportunity to implement solar power, as well as “terraced builds,” which will allow for a number of homes to be built that can take advantage of that energy option.
Based upon the design of the land, which slopes upward – as it spreads out and away from the main “base” point, Zwicker explained that there may be homes with “walk-out basements,” built into the hill.
“The close proximity to the school and to the community Recplex also makes it a good choice for families as a place to live,” Zwicker said.
He clarified that it will inlcude affordable, not subsidized housing.
“It’s about getting people and families into a home they can afford,” he added.
Zwicker explained that the water and sewer service development, as the neighbourhood grows, will likely require wells and septic systems.
“We are planning and setting the stage for the future,” he told the gathering.
Wier said the municipality will continue to work with the province, including its seniors and long-term care department, on its potential participation in the initiative.
“And, we are going to use this concept plan to actively market this project to for-profit and not-for-profit developers,” he added.
Wier told the audiences, “It all begins with the hopes, needs and visions of all of you and others in the community, who have given their ideas and feedback.”
Housing association update
At the introduction of the neighbourhood concept plan on Oct. 2, Guysborough First Affordable Housing Association (GFAHA) President Nancy O’Regan provided an update on the group’s planned seniors’ housing complex project in Sherbrooke, which is separate from the new neighbourhood plan. She also noted a possible second project for St. Mary’s families - affordable housing – that may be built in the future as part of the new neighbourhood concept plan.
With its first initiative, the proposed seniors’ complex, she explained the Guysborough County-wide non-profit housing corporation is “hoping, in the future, to work very closely with the municipality on this project,” adding the housing needs of people is immediate, and the organization would like to get started as soon as they can.
O’Regan said the GFAHA is “very pleased” to have received “seed money” from the municipality to assist with the purchase of land for the seniors housing development.
She also noted that GFAHA is inviting residents of St. Mary’s to be a part of an advisory committee that will provide input guidance.
“What should it look like, what are the things that need to be in those units, what are the things that matter to people about where it is; how it’s built, and how it looks,” she offered of some of the questions that volunteer group would help the organization answer.
Anyone interested in joining the advisory committee should contact O’Regan, Wier or St. Mary’s Economic Development Officer, Denise Dunn.
The first meeting will take place in November at a yet-to-be-determined date.
