An expansive residential and commercial development on Millennium Boulevard has been approved by the Moncton Planning Advisory Committee.
The land, about 50 acres on the south side of Millennium between Killam Drive and Grand Trunk Street, had already been zoned for this type of development so the committee approved a conditional use application with several variances.
City planners called it a “nice, dense urban community” with 11 buildings – two of which will be two-storey commercial and nine will be six-storey apartments with more than 940 units.
Residents were invited to take part in the virtual meeting on Wednesday night and expressed concerns about traffic congestion and that the development borders on Centennial Park.
Area neighbour Ted Fitzgerald told the committee that few people seemed to know about this project.
“I’m disappointed that we weren’t given more time. A lot of key people that are living here are on holidays. It’s a bad time of the year,” noted Fitzgerald.
City planners said they were following provincial legislation and only properties within 60 metres had to be notified in writing.
Another neighbour, Susan Atkinson, had environmental worries about the runoff of stormwater and the possibility of flooding.
“If all of this asphalt is going to be laid down, where is that water now going to go? Is it going to backflow? I’ve already had one flood in my basement.”
City planners stated how a stormwater retention pond will be built on the site to prevent any additional runoff.
The developers, C.G. Group on behalf of Entreprises Mapoma Limited, said the extensive project would take about eight years to build.
Developer Philip Couture said the rents for low-end units will start at $1000 per month and the high-end units will be about $2000 per month depending on the market.