A Moncton environmental group called the Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance is speaking out against a proposed parking lot at the site of the former Moncton High School football field.
“This is designated right now as a public green space and a conservation zone,” said Jenna MacQuarrie, a member of the conservation group.
MacQuarrie said the group is opposed to a Heritage Developments application asking the city to rezone the green space to allow for a 559-space parking lot.
The Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance filed a formal written opposition letter to the city on Thursday.
READ MORE: Homeowners suing City of Montreal for $7M over contaminated land
MacQuarrie says the lands should be developed into a place for residents to play sports, enjoy the outdoors and a place for local wildlife like birds to call home.
“It’s a flood zone also as identified by the city as an area where there is likely to be more flooding in the future so it is important to keep it in its natural state so that it can do what it is naturally able to do, which is absorb water for people,” she said.
She says a paved parking lot would put nearby homes, like that of Leslie Tse, at great risk of flooding.
WATCH: Liberals and Tories say contaminated Harrietsfield site should be cleaned up
Tse has been speaking out against the developer’s plans for weeks.
“This is 2017, we do not need to pave a several-acre site and put concrete on it. It makes no sense,” she said.
“They are proposing turning it into a parking lot that is inaccessible to anyone except the people that park there.”
The mother wants to see the now fenced in land developed into a community park and sports field for her kids.
READ MORE: N.S. auditor general releases environment-related audit
Heritage Developments has also applied to the city to rezone the land of the former Moncton High School from community to mixed use to allow for tenants like a call centre and non-profit arts and cultural organizations which the Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance supports.
“It is already paved. It is already a thing and it would be great for the community to have people in that building again,” said MacQuarrie.
But she says this green space should be saved and the city’s planning advisory committee agrees.
Isabelle LeBlanc, a spokesperson for the City of Moncton, stated in an email that the committee is issuing a recommendation to not rezone the former field.
“It doesn’t fit with the vision and guiding principles of the Municipal Plan as it relates to green space.”
Heritage Developments did not respond to a request for comment.
The City of Moncton will hold a public hearing on the proposal on Monday
Comments