CBRM councillor expects increasing conflict between new housing, property owners

Increasing development is helping solve the housing shortage in Cape Breton Regional Municipality, but it's also causing conflict with existing property owners.

One municipal councillor says he expects clashes will increase as developments ramp up under new rules designed to ease the housing crunch.

Last week, CBRM council rejected an appeal by Paula and Shaun Hickey, who opposed the planning department's approval for construction of an 18-unit apartment block on Reservoir Road near the regional hospital in Sydney, N.S.

Paula Hickey told council the proposed three-storey building would look out of place in between her home and the one on the other side.

"They're only 1.5-storey buildings, so that structure is going to loom over our existing properties," she said.

Hickey also said the building is too close to the property line, may not have sufficient parking and could overwhelm municipal sewer and water services.

Smaller development sought

"We believe that the proposed development ... will negatively affect the adjacent dwellings," she said.

"It'll cause increased traffic congestion, loss of privacy and environmental impact in our quiet neighbourhood."

She said increased housing is important, but development should be smaller in her single-family residential neighbourhood.

CBRM planning staff say the building meets all the criteria for the zone under new planning rules adopted in September 2023 under a report called CBRM Forward. Staff have also told council that public works says the infrastructure can handle the development.

CBRM has been told it needs at least 1,000 new housing units by next year to ease the housing shortage.

In an update to council earlier this month, planning director Tyson Simms told council that more than 900 units will have been started or built by the end of this year.

Last week, Coun. Gordon MacDonald said he sympathizes with the Hickeys, but council went through a lengthy public process to create the new planning documents that make it easier for developers to build.

In addition, the proposed apartment block on Reservoir Road meets all the criteria, he said.

"Unfortunately for the residents that feel they're going to lose some of that privacy, because I certainly can relate to that, … we'll have to support the recommendation of our planning department."

MacDonald said he expects conflicts to increase as housing projects ramp up under the new rules.

"It's going to be unfortunate, but we're going to run into more of these situations as we go simply because we are looking for people to build and these kind of buildings are able to accommodate several families in one build."

Deputy Mayor Eldon MacDonald, whose district includes Reservoir Road, said people who took part in public sessions during the development of CBRM Forward were overwhelmingly in favour of relaxed rules that would spark new construction.

"When I attended the consultation processes that we undertook over that two-year period, a surprising number of people, it was the vast majority of people, the only thing on their minds was housing," he said.

"The lack of it, the affordability of it and the need for densification. It's a challenge. It's not easy, but it was by far the biggest issue that I heard."

Council unanimously overruled the Hickey appeal, paving the way for the new apartments.