Letter from N.B. Ex leadership stokes concerns about impasse on site redevelopment talks

A letter fromleaders withthe New Brunswick Exhibition is stoking concerns there's been an impasse in discussions with the City of Frederictonaimed at redeveloping the 31-acresite to build new housing, a park, and potentially a new school.

Discussions between the two parties "continue to revolvearound the inability of the proposed development plan to adequately meet N.B. Ex needs when it comes to promoting agriculture," said the letter, co-signed by executive director Jeff McCarthy and board president Rob Kitchen.

"The current proposed development plan relegates agriculture to the back burner."

The letter, sent to members on Sep. 3, suggests the current leadership at the exhibitionnow takes issue with thedevelopment plan, which it struck with the city more than two years ago.

"[There]seems to be an impasse between the city and the N.B. Exon those development plans, which is sad, really," said Jeff Thompson, a former N.B. Ex member and downtown resident.

The New Brunswick Exhibition and the city agreed in spring of 2022to a plan that sought to allow the exhibitionto remain on the city-owned property, which it currently leases on Smythe Street, with enough space to continue to put on its annual agricultural fair and exhibition.

However, an adjacent horse-racing trackno longer used for official race events would be redeveloped to accommodate up to 1,200 new housing units, a park and potentially a new school.

In the letter, McCarthy and Kitchen acknowledge the exhibitionstands to benefit financially from the proposed development plan, but questionwhether it would be worth it if it has "no land left" to promote agriculture programs.

"An agri-food display and no ability to host children and animals, 4H and our livestock partners is not an agriculture program. A single agri-food display is not growth."

The letter does not elaborate on which specific aspects of the plan would leave itunable to promote agriculture programs.

Redevelopment options laid out in the city's secondary municipal planshow the potential for the exhibitionto keep largely thesame footprint it currently has, except with the horse-racing track replaced with housing and a school.

Kitchen declined to doan interview with CBC News when reached by phone Thursday, and McCarthy did not reply to interview requests made by email and voicemail.

City seeking clarity on letter

The letter comesabout a year after leadersfrom the exhibitionand the City of Frederictonstruck a committee that was tasked with implementing theplan, which Kitchen previously told CBC News he'd accepted.

CBC News asked for an interview with Mayor Kate Rogers about progress made by the committeeand her thoughts on the recent letter.

Rogers was not made available, but spokesperson Shasta Stairs saidin an emailed statementthe city is aware of a recent newsletter from the exhibitionand will be contacting its leadership for clarity.

The statement did not say what, if any progress the joint committee has made in the time since it was formed at the end of last summer.

N.B. Ex using stall tactics, says former board member

A former board member, who resigned last fall, saidhethinks the current board is employing stall tactics to keep the horse-racing track for as long as possible.

"I strongly believe thatwhen they speak agriculture, they believe that harness racing is a component of agricultureand that the underlying tone here is that they kind of want to try to resuscitate or save harness racing," said Jeff Melanson.

Melanson served as a board member starting in 2015and was the president when the exhibitionstruck the redevelopment deal with the city.

However, he said he noticed a shift in attitude toward the planfollowing two successive annual general meetings, where new board members in favour of keeping the race track werevoted in.

"It seems likethey've wanted to maybe change the agreement or blow up the agreement because they felt it didn't suit their needs, and I'm thinking primarily ...to keep a race track."

Melanson saidthe apparentstalemate leaves a lot at stake for residents of the city, considering a prime piece of real estate continues to go largely unused amid a severe housing shortage.

"There's obviously a huge housing crunch in our city. We need land to develop affordable housing forthe citizens of Fredericton."

Thompsonbecame a registered member of the exhibitionlast year to get involved in the redevelopment process.

He said he was already concerned about the lack of communication from either party regarding progress on the plan's implementation a year after they formedthejoint committee.

Now, he said the latest letter from theleadership seems to confirm his concernthat little to no headway has been made on redeveloping the site.

"It's a prime development opportunity in the heart of downtown ...so it's a bit discouraging to see that, you know, there seems to be a bit of an impasse."