Fredericton looks to southeast edge of city as possible housing growth area

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A lack of housing development on one area on the south-side has prompted the City of Fredericton to consider the city’s southeastern edge as a possible neighbourhood slated for growth.

Councillors passed a motion passed at a recent economic vitality committee meeting to have staff prepare an updated plan for the Doak Road area to find out if it could serve as the second south-side growth node in the city’s municipal plan bylaw.

The area is currently a mix of unused land and spotted commercial and industrial development, with a smattering of homes stretching along Doad Road back to where it nears the Trans-Canada Highway.

The idea to add the area as a so-called “new neighbourhood” in the city’s official growth strategy comes as another area that had been designated as potential for housing has stalled.

The city has two such designated areas on the south side – one in the Bishop Drive, Hanwell, High Point area, which has seen major development in recent years, and the other on the south side of Knowledge Park drive, in the bushlot owned by the University of New Brunswick, which has seen no development in the several years it’s been earmarked as a potential area for housing growth.

“Council is very familiar with the concerns we’ve had regarding the ability of the south side to deal with the growth pressures it’s facing,” planning and development director Ken Forrest said at the committee.

“The city had identified two new neighbourhoods in the growth strategy in the municipal plan on the south side, but since it’s been adopted, only one of those areas has been producing housing units.”

He said staff have met with UNB officials, and although there is still interest in opening the uptown growth area for development, there’s no timeline to install the infrastructure to make that happen.

Forrest said the city created a growth plan for the Doak Road area in 2005, and staff feel it could use an update to help decide whether to relocate the second south-side growth area to Doak Road.

He said staff would focus on a “25-year supply” in the Doak Road area that could accommodate housing projects. He said he hopes the plan could be updated by the fall and brought back to council for direction.

Mayor Kate Rogers said she believes the city should add Doak Road as an additional growth area instead of replacing Knowledge Park Drive with it. Forrest said the results of the plan refresh will determine staff and council’s course of action as the pros and cons of replacing Knowledge Park or keeping it available, but unserviced, are considered.

“Where this becomes a significant decision is infrastructure investments. How much money do we have available? How intentional do we want to be with infrastructure investments?” he said.