Going back to the community

Public consultations set for Reddin Meadows development

Stratford town council is sending a proposed subdivision for Reddin Meadows with a revised plan back for public consultation.

Council voted down an earlier proposal to rezone 14 acres of land behind Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Parish Church on Stratford Road in August 2020 by a 4-2 vote.

“The planning board felt it has taken into account a lot of comments that were received in the last round,” Coun. Jill Burridge (Ward 2), chairwoman of the planning, development and heritage committee, said at Wednesday’s town council meeting.

The application for Reddin Meadows is to rezone the area from low-density residential to planned unit residential development.

The new plan has 84 units in 37 structures comprised of single-family homes and townhouses whereas the previous plan had 76 units. A major issue with the earlier plan, which was revised last year, was a proposed 36unit apartment building.

Kevin Reynolds, the town’s director of planning, added a main issue the developers, Landfest Company Ltd. in Charlottetown, have addressed is traffic. In the previous plan, 58 units would have been accessed via Reddin Heights road and 18 units off of Stratford Road.

“This new plan is kind of flipping that,” he said.

Now, 11 units will be accessed off Reddin Heights and 73 units off of Stratford Road.

The developer has submitted another detailed traffic study for the public to consider. After public consultations in 2019 and 2020 regarding the previous plan, traffic was often raised as a major concern by residents.

Reynolds raised another point at Wednesday’s meeting. Redirecting traffic will also result in a street being built that will intersect with the Stratford Trail and the town’s active transportation plan. Reynolds said a speed bump and crosswalk could be put in place to notify motorists of the trail crossing.

The public consultation meeting is scheduled for June 23 at the emergency services building. It starts at 6 p.m., and the Reddin Meadows rezoning application is one of three matters on the agenda for public consultation. Up to 50 people will be allowed to attend in person. The meeting will be live streamed on the website and posted online afterwards.

Council also voted to send a matter regarding a bylaw change to the June 23 meeting. It involves Lesli Hilton of Marion Drive, who wants a bylaw changed to allow her to operate her nail salon business out of the residence. The issue is that Hilton lives in a duplex, and the bylaw only allows home businesses to operate out of single-family detached homes and not semi-detached properties.

Reynolds said an issue is parking space for customers. The town is planning to look at other jurisdictions that allow home businesses in duplexes to get a sense of how it works as well as any complaints that have been received.

A final matter headed to the June 23 meeting involves the town’s community campus development project and changes to allow for secondary uses of the land that would allow for restaurants and lounges.