By Mark Squibb
An application for an infill subdivision at 2-26 Carberry Place consisting of eight new homes was approved by Paradise council last month, but not without some debate.
Council first discussed the matter at length during its April 14 committee of the whole meeting and finally, after more to and fro, gave its approval at the public meeting of April 21.
Up for discussion was the character of the street, future development potential, lot sizes, and whether it should have a sidewalk.
Councillor Tommy Maher said he had met with the developer who suggested an additional asphalt shoulder in lieu of a sidewalk. Maher said the developer was in talks with his engineer and would be sending additional drawings to Town staff.
Councillor Glen Carew, meanwhile, said he had not spoken with the developer personally, but understood he was willing to work with council on the matter. He had, however, spoken with a resident on Carberry, who had a concern about the size of the roadway itself.
“The roadway on Carberry, and Duffs, I believe he said, is 20 feet wide,” said Carew. “Spracklin has a 32-foot-wide road surface. He was more concerned about cars parking on the roadway, especially when it came to busing, and kids going to and from the bus.”
Carew noted residents in the area indicated they would have appreciated more of a heads up about the development.
Carew added he was happy with the recommendation as it was, which included a clause that if there are sidewalks, a water management plan will need to be drafted.
Councillor Jennifer Hiscock said she drove through the neighbourhood to have a close look, and had a close encounter when two children jumped up out of the ditch onto the road.
“It is a super narrow road,” said Hiscock. “And of course I did notice that all the homes in that area are larger lots, and they do have ditches, so I can understand the thought process of how putting in the sidewalks would change the overall layout of that area. But with the park being there, and the connection to the active trails we have set up there, I do feel it would be beneficial to have some sidewalk there.”
Councillor Erin Furlong concurred with Hiscock.
“I also drove around up there and thankfully no kids jumped out and scared me from the ditches,” she quipped. “But it is a narrow road, and it’s a difficult one, because we do have that more rural area that’s inside of this newer area coming up on Carberry Place. We do have to think about the safety aspect of all this.”
Mayor Patrick Martin said the developer has done a lot of good work around town and has good intentions.
Before putting the matter to a vote, chief administrative officer Lisa Niblock took a moment to clarify what council would be voting on, as the potential for wide asphalt shoulders in lieu of sidewalks seemed to have changed the trajectory of the conversation.
Niblock explained that as the current motion stood, sidewalks were included as a condition. However, should the developer wish to increase the width of the pavement rather than install sidewalks, as Maher had suggested, new drawings would need to be submitted before council could make a decision.
“I think where the confusion might be is that during the committee of the whole meeting, we were pretty adamant about the sidewalk piece, but I believe that councillor Maher has had a discussion with the developer and now we’re not really sure where that just put us,” said Hiscock. “I would want the sidewalks, or some sort of sidewalks, that’s my opinion. I would just like clarification from councillor Maher as to where his head is at in regard to his conversation.”
Maher explained that he had spoken to the developer as only one councillor of seven.
“What I explained to the developer was that I thought council would be fine seeing that it was a hard surface – asphalt, concrete, no matter what it would be, but a hard surface – with no ditching, that was a pathway to get from A to B,” said Maher. “At that particular time, he said his engineer was working on something that he would present to staff.”
Hiscock said if the road shoulder is extended, drivers will park their vehicles along the shoulders and pedestrians will have no safe walkway.
Mayor Martin suggested deferring the matter until the confusion could be cleared up.
Niblock added that when the initial application came to council, there was no sidewalk in the plan. Council had requested sidewalk be added, and should council opt now to request extended shoulders instead of sidewalk, the matter would need to be deferred.
“If you’re voting on this, you’re voting on the application as it is right now,” said Niblock, who asked council to give staff clear direction on why they were deferring the matter should they choose to defer it.
Councillor Sheldon Antle moved to defer the vote to give the applicant time to draft a new proposal minus the sidewalk.
Carew, however, was not in favour of deferring the motion again.
“I think we have had more than enough time to suss out this application,” said Carew. “This has been discussed since April, and we have a motion in front of us, and I feel we should vote on it. I will say though, in defense of staff and the developer, that this area is a bit of a unicorn. We are having an in-depth discussion here because this is infill development in a mature area of town with a significant amount of lots. This isn’t something we deal with everyday, lest anybody be watching the council meeting and thinking that council might be floundering here.”
Put to a vote, Carew, Furlong and Hiscock voted against the motion to defer, while Martin, Antle and Maher supported it, resulting in an even vote split which meant a defeat for the motion.
That led to a vote on the original motion, to approve the development with a sidewalk, which was approved unanimously.
