Chester walks back proposed density increase to village core

Municipal staff are scaling back proposed density in the Village of Chester, after an outpouring of concern from residents led councillors to reject current plans.

More than 100 people attended a recent public hearing about the new land-use bylaw and secondary planning strategy for Chester village. Most spoke passionately against the plan to go from two units on a lot to three in the small village core, citing concerns about community character and impacts on the local water table as everyone uses wells for drinking water.

On Thursday morning, councillors for the Municipality of Chester agreed to send municipal staff back to make multiple changes to the plans, based on those concerns.

"We did make huge headway," village resident Peggy Wilson said Thursday. "I think they understood that there's a lot of people in town that are paying attention and, you know, we're heading in the right direction."

Wilson said locals aren't against all development in the village area, and understand some will be needed. She said developers will always be able to pitch projects that could be successful if they meet certain requirements — but it pays to be cautious when it comes to planning documents that dictate what can be built without council approval.

'We just don't want any mistakes'

The recent lesson from the Village of Baddeck is timely, Wilson said. The Cape Breton community has halted commercial and residential development after their infrastructure was overwhelmed.

"We just don't want any mistakes made going forward. We just want to be able to handle whatever is going to happen in terms of growth," Wilson said.

Garth Sturtevant, senior planner for the Chester municipality, said changes will be made to only allow a single-unit home plus smaller accessory unit (either attached or behind the main building) in the village core.

"That's actually a step backward, to less density than the current plan allows," he said.

An extension to the commercial area of the village will be cut, and a higher-density zone along the secondary highway will go from allowing eight units to four, plus accessory dwellings.

Although the "gentle" increase in density for the village was rejected by council and the public, Sturtevant said he sees the process as a success because planning should be informed by what locals want.

"It's really been stepped back significantly, and hopefully that will put people's minds at ease around the water and those other kind of issues," Sturtevant said.

Parking concerns remain

He said the plan does include new village architectural controls that will better preserve the look of the iconic seaside community.

Wilson said there are still concerns that parking won't be required for new businesses in the commercial area, and a few people would like areas that are currently commercial to become residential.

"I really do think that we still have some room to negotiate, or at least I hope we do," Wilson said.

Staff will bring the planning changes back to council for first reading at a later date. Another public hearing will be held before a final decision is made, likely in September.