Moncton starts bylaw changes for proposed 17-storey riverfront towers

Moncton council took the first step Monday to change a series of city bylaws to allow a pair of 17-storey towers along the city's riverfront. 

New Brunswick-based J.N. Lafford Realty Inc. has proposed the mixed-use towers with about 380 residential units south of Assomption Boulevard along Riverfront Park.

The company's proposal includes commercial space on the main level, two levels of indoor parking and a public right-of-way to access the park.

"The developer will help create a gateway and create amenities for people that use the park, which probably will make it a safer environment as well," Bill Budd, the city's director of planning and development, told council on Monday.

Public hearing in October

City staff recommended council approve first reading of bylaws amending the municipal plan, downtown plan and zoning bylaw to allow the proposal to move ahead. 

Council voted unanimously in favour. 

The project named Gateway Towers is valued at about $90 million. A city staff report says 10 to 25 per cent of the apartments may be considered affordable housing. 

The proposal has already met with some opposition. About three dozen residents signed a petition calling on the city to halt the proposal. 

The vote means the public will have a chance to weigh in, whether for or against, at a public hearing set for Oct. 7. 

While none of those calling for the plans to be halted spoke Monday, council members raised some of their concerns with planning staff.

Deputy Mayor Paulette Thériault asked about whether the proposal opens the door to further development in or around Riverfront Park. 

Budd said it wouldn't create a precedent. He said most of the Gateway Towers site covers land Lafford already owned it has the right to develop and has the right zoning already.

Earlier this summer, council voted to sell some municipally-owned land to the developer. 

"Because of the huge cost that developing there, he's trying to make the most efficient development possible and required some additional land to make it feasible," Budd said of the land sale. 

Budd described the land the city is selling as a "ditch area" that has been "problematic" because of homeless encampments in the past. 

And while residents have suggested the Gateway Towers proposal would go against city plans by developing green space, Budd appeared to push back on that idea.  

Budd pointed to a map in the city's 2017 downtown plan showing the site, part of which occupied by a building and parking lot for years, redeveloped with four buildings.

"Some form of this type of development was always contemplated at this location," Budd said. "It's just slightly becoming a little larger."

The deputy mayor also asked about flood risk, another concern raised by residents. 

City rules require habitable spaces be constructed above the one-in-100-year flood zone of 10.5 metres elevation, a level near the high-water mark of the 1869 Saxby Gale. 

Buildings within the flood zone are also required to be designed to withstand flooding. One of the Gateway Towers approval conditions would be for the builder to include flood mitigation measures. 

Budd pointed to the courthouse nearby as an example, saying its main level is constructed higher, and its underground parking is meant to withstand flooding.