Residents ramp up opposition to parking lot at former Moncton High site

Some residents who live near the former Moncton High School are ramping up their opposition to a plan to put a paved parking lot over the site's sports field.

Moncton developer Heritage Developments wants to rezone the land and is seeking the city's approval to add 351 parking spaces in the lot adjoining the school, plus another 559 spaces on the former football field.

The developer purchased the building from the province for $1 million and plans to refurbish the building to allow for a mix of commercial tenants. 

But some concerned citizens have created a petition and are encouraging others to contact local politicians to voice their opposition.

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The online petition had 400 signatures as of Thursday night.

Michael Roy, who lives in the neighbourhood, said residents are concerned that they're going to lose the only green space in the area.

The space is still used often by residents for a variety of outdoor activities, he said.

"It may not look like much to people driving by it every day, but it is an essential part of our active living strategy moving forward," he said.

"These key pieces are incredibly important to our neighbourhoods at large."

He said he'd rather see the space used to build a multi-use active living facility.

While redeveloping the building is critical, building an industrial parking lot over a sports field that is still widely used "just doesn't make any sense," he said.

"We have far too many intelligent people in Moncton, we can come to a resolution that doesn't pave a sports field," he said.

Moncton's city council will vote on the proposal on Nov. 6, following a public hearing on the matter.

The city's planning advisory committee voted against the extra parking on Oct. 25. 

Heritage Developments did not respond to requests for comment.