Council approves land bank for housing projects

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Miramichi will soon be proceeding with a new database of surplus city-owned properties to offer up for potential housing projects.

City council unanimously approved a proposal from economic development and tourism director Jeff MacTavish for a land bank listing surplus lots available for housing development.

Council also voted unanimously to approve a new policy for acquiring and selling municipal land for housing and other types of development.

Mayor Adam Lordon said he’s pleased to see the new policy and land bank coming forward.

“It seems like property issues are actually one of the things that fills our agendas the most,” he said.

“After a number of years of dealing with those, it’s nice that we’ll have a policy that will guide those actions moving forward, in particular through the lens of the housing crisis we’re facing in the community and doing our best to get housing developments – especially affordable housing – built as much as possible in the area.”

MacTavish said properties staff are offering for housing include a portion of a vacant lot at the corner of Water and McIntosh streets in Chatham that wasn’t transferred to Belleterre Community Partners for a 20-unit building earlier this year, and an undeveloped lot on Alexis Street – near the multiplex site in Douglastown – that was originally a buffer zone behind Northumberland Square.

Also being provided for housing are a vacant lot in the Bradd Street mini home park in Chatham, near Martin Street, along with an undeveloped parcel at the corner of Henderson Street and Bramalea Avenue in Chatham, a property next to Chatham Auto Body and Mechanical on Hill Street, the southern portion of the former Ian Baillie Primary School site off Jones Street in Chatham, and a long stretch of land on Old King George Highway in Newcastle that’s long been used by the Public Works Department for fill.

In addition, MacTavish said staff are offering the former water tower site on Rennie Road in Douglastown and a wooded area on John Street, next to the Willie Jardine Field in Chatham, for potential housing projects.

In recent meetings with developers, MacTavish said, the idea of mixed developments has been discussed, with commercial space on the ground floor of a building that has residential units on the top level – depending on the neighbourhood.

“The initial inventory will allow staff to know what we have for sale, so we’ll know when people inquire, but there still needs to be a discussion on what the appropriate zoning would be for the neighbourhoods,” he said.

Lordon said the city’s affordable housing working group is reviewing zoning designations for city-owned surplus properties and unowned properties.

MacTavish said the land bank and new surplus land policy were among 10 initiatives approved by council in August as part of the city’s application for $13.82 million from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Housing Accelerator Fund. He said the land bank is meant to “optimize underutilized city-owned land assets for housing opportunities and establish guidelines for and execute on the strategic acquisition of new lands.”

While the city already has a surplus land policy, MacTavish said the new one includes more provisions for affordable housing and economic development. It also allows a city department to retain land identified “for a specific purpose pursuant to its mandate,” which could include environmental considerations and other factors.

When asked by Lordon if the policy still allows developers to express interest in a parcel of city-owned land and submit a proposal to council, MacTavish said it includes a process for that, although it’s still being finalized.

MacTavish said the land bank was developed in consultation with the housing working group and reviewed by various departments before being recommended for council’s approval. He said staff met in August to discuss the proposal after it was suggested earlier this year by Miramichi Regional Housing Authority manager Justin Forbes.

The surplus properties were reviewed by MacTavish, city manager Mike Noel, public works director Jay Shanahan, community wellness and recreation director Jason Walsh, and engineering director Darren Row. Current uses, potential future uses, proximity to municipal water and sewer services, parking availability, and impacts on the city’s operations were considered.