Neighbours raise concerns over Pleasantville plans

Residents living near a patch of prime land in St. John's where a federal Crown corporation hopes to launch a massive residential development raised one question after another at a public hearing Thursday night.

Canada Lands Corp. unveiled its plans for the Pleasantville area last fall, showcasing a model of houses, condominiums and other structures. In all, the redevelopment of the land developed in the early 1940s as an American military base and later operated by the Canadian military will involve about 1,000 residential units.

Todd Perrin, who lives in nearby Quidi Vidi Village, said one problem is foremost.

"The traffic, the traffic, the traffic," Perrin told the meeting.

"I can't say it enough. It's a problem now. It's going to be a major problem and I think some significant, significant changes are going to need to be made in the way traffic is routed around this area," said Perrin, adding that many commuters heading into St. John's cut down through the east of Pleasantville and then through Quidi Vidi Village to reach downtown destinations.

Nearly 100 people attended the meeting, which was organized to give city council a better appreciation of residents' views.

Traffic, density and noise were frequently raised during the meeting.

Patricia Ryan, who lives by the area's main road, the Boulevard, warned of what thousands of new residents may mean.

"We [already] had to actually put an air conditioner in our bedroom so we could sleep from the noise of the traffic going up and down the Boulevard dump trucks, garbage trucks, cement trucks," Ryan said.

Derek Winsor said he believes the plan is simply too big for the area.

"There has to be a rethink here," he said.

"There has to be some more thought put into the number of units[and with]having a lot more open space there."

Resident Judy Gibson wondered whether council is "planning to put the priority of business and Canada Lands Corp. ahead of the residents."

Canada Lands Corp. took on the project of divesting the Pleasantville properties several years ago, when most of the area was declared surplus. Canadian Forces Station St. John's will be relocating its entire operation to a much smaller part of the neighbourhood.

The Pleasantville area is among the last largely undeveloped areas in the St. John's area, where new subdivisions have frequently been built in neighbouring towns.

Canada Lands Corp. said its goal was to build a mix of housing that would appeal to different demographics, including young families, single adults and retirees.

Council is expected to vote on the project in the coming weeks.