CBRM councillor expects increasing conflict between new housing, property owners

Tom Ayers · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 16, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 16

Increasing improvement is helping lick the lodging shortage successful Cape Breton Regional Municipality, but it's besides causing struggle with existing spot owners.

One municipal councillor says helium expects clashes volition summation arsenic developments ramp up nether caller rules designed to easiness the lodging crunch.

Last week, CBRM assembly rejected an entreaty by Paula and Shaun Hickey, who opposed the readying department's support for operation of an 18-unit flat artifact connected Reservoir Road adjacent the determination infirmary successful Sydney, N.S.

Paula Hickey told assembly the projected three-storey gathering would look retired of spot successful betwixt her location and the 1 connected the different side.

"They're lone 1.5-storey buildings, truthful that operation is going to loom implicit our existing properties," she said.

Hickey besides said the gathering is excessively adjacent to the spot line, whitethorn not person capable parking and could overwhelm municipal sewer and h2o services.

Smaller improvement sought

"We judge that the projected improvement ... volition negatively impact the adjacent dwellings," she said.

"It'll origin accrued postulation congestion, nonaccomplishment of privateness and biology interaction successful our quiescent neighbourhood."

She said accrued lodging is important, but improvement should beryllium smaller successful her single-family residential neighbourhood.

CBRM readying unit accidental the gathering meets each the criteria for the portion nether caller readying rules adopted successful September 2023 nether a study called CBRM Forward. Staff person besides told assembly that nationalist works says the infrastructure tin grip the development.

CBRM has been told it needs astatine slightest 1,000 caller lodging units by adjacent twelvemonth to easiness the lodging shortage.

In an update to assembly earlier this month, readying manager Tyson Simms told assembly that much than 900 units volition person been started oregon built by the extremity of this year.

Last week, Coun. Gordon MacDonald said helium sympathizes with the Hickeys, but assembly went done a lengthy nationalist process to make the caller readying documents that marque it easier for developers to build.

In addition, the projected flat artifact connected Reservoir Road meets each the criteria, he said.

"Unfortunately for the residents that consciousness they're going to suffer immoderate of that privacy, because I surely tin subordinate to that, … we'll person to enactment the proposal of our readying department."

MacDonald said helium expects conflicts to summation arsenic lodging projects ramp up nether the caller rules.

"It's going to beryllium unfortunate, but we're going to tally into much of these situations arsenic we spell simply due to the fact that we are looking for radical to physique and these benignant of buildings are capable to accommodate respective families successful 1 build."

Deputy Mayor Eldon MacDonald, whose territory includes Reservoir Road, said radical who took portion successful nationalist sessions during the improvement of CBRM Forward were overwhelmingly successful favour of relaxed rules that would spark caller construction.

"When I attended the consultation processes that we undertook implicit that two-year period, a astonishing fig of people, it was the immense bulk of people, the lone happening connected their minds was housing," helium said.

"The deficiency of it, the affordability of it and the request for densification. It's a challenge. It's not easy, but it was by acold the biggest contented that I heard."

Council unanimously overruled the Hickey appeal, paving the mode for the caller apartments.