Private Saint John neighbourhood won't have street designation changed

Residents of Yacht Haven Lane, a high end cul-de-sac in Millidgeville, will have to continue to dig themselves out after a heavy snowfall, according to Saint John city council.

Councillors voted unanimously to keep Yacht Haven Lane as a private street, which means it has no access to city services like snow clearing, street maintenance, or street lights.

This comes after city staff presented a report detailing the potential repercussions, both direct and indirect, of accepting the designation change.

City staff said if they were to make the street public, it would cost the city an extra $3,500 per year for snow clearing, and an equal amount for roadway and sidewalk maintenance.

Plus, with 75 kilometres of total private roads within city limits, those costs would quickly skyrocket if other neighbourhoods asked for the same thing, up to a total of $700,000 extra per year.

"It's just the precedent," said Mayor Don Darling. "We have so many private lane ways in the city, and we're just not in the financial position that we can turn back the clock and take on a much larger scope of work."

Same property tax rate

The issue was first raised at the end of December, when a resident brought forward a motion to council to have their street redesignated as public.

Their argument was they paid the same property tax rate, so they deserved the same quality of service from the city. 

"That is $1.4 million [in taxes] over 10 years," said Graham Taylor, who first brought the motion to council. "We live in the city, we work in the city, we support local businesses, and we volunteer in the city. Every municipality is fighting for every dollar and every new building permit."

"What message does this send to developers, what message does this send to realtors, what message does this send to prospective home buyers?"

At the time, Deputy Mayor Shirley McAlary agreed with the residents. "It would take about five minutes," she said.

"Yacht Haven Lane is in very good shape, and very short. I would say we really should do it, because the people on that street pay taxes the same as everybody else."

Road didn't meet city standards

When the lane way was first created, it was designated a private road to bypass certain zoning requirements by the city.

The developer chose to narrow the street in order to make the properties larger, city staff said, and the city made allowances for the lots to be smaller than the zoning bylaws would require. All this was done with the understanding that the street would be privately maintained.

At the time, the developer agreed to this, and plowed the street himself, planning to move the costs to the residents once there were enough to split the price. The cost was transferred to the residents in 2018. 

"This is very consistent with what was discussed with the developer," said Darling.

"It's a beautiful lane way with beautiful homes overlooking the beautiful river system that we've got here."

"I wouldn't not do it again, but we certainly can reflect on how we make sure that if we make an agreement with a developer, that that agreement sticks and that homeowners are aware of the details of those agreements."

However, McAlary thinks that maybe they should reconsider approving developments that can't access the city's services so that there are no further problems down the road.

"I understand the report, but that's why I say, 'should we ever do a development like that in the future?'", she asked.  

"It just doesn't give the people the services they require, and they pay high taxes for those services, so I'd like to be consistent."