Niverville Council hears concerns to rezoning of farmland at Public Hearing

Back on July 19, Niverville Council was approached with a request of a rezoning change to approximately 130 acres of farmland to commercial use.  

Mayor Myron Dyck explains, “So, we had a developer come to us and put in the request for the zoning change, so we gave first reading to that at our last meeting. And so, that then triggers a public hearing which was held today (August 16) giving residents a chance to come and raise questions, concerns they might have.”

Public hearing notice near the property with the request for rezoning. 

Then at the August 16 Public Hearing, a couple of Niverville residents, living in The Highlands development, did just that. Each unsure as to whether or not they would approve or oppose the rezoning request.  

Mayor Dyck says council was only able to respond with what they knew, which at the time of the Public Hearing was that there were still a lot of unknowns.  

When one of the Niverville residents asked about the changing skyline and their view to the west, Dyck said, “if you happen to live, on what is the edge of town, but really isn't the edge of town, you know developers develop and then move on to the next phase and that's just part of community growth. To you I would say, you live in a beautiful neighbourhood, built by a developer who develops beautiful neighbourhoods, and there's evidence all around what this developer has done. Quality workmanship. He is thorough and deals great with the general public.” 

Dyck says these developers have been in good communication with town council members but also the residents of the area they are developing. “We talk to the people and talk to the developer, whether it's about the greenspace, whether it's trees, whether it's beautification and we see that they are doing the same thing in other neighbourhoods which those residents say is beautiful. So, we have no reason to believe that any future neighbourhoods that are developed, won't be similar.” 

To assure the individuals with concerns at the Public Hearing, Dyck explained that “anytime there is a residential development, there is a green space component that a developer must meet, which is generally 10% of the development. This can be anything from lakes to actual parks with amenities, like swings and slides or it can just be, you know, open walkways and pathways and things like that. So, there's a commitment to that. As far as the town as a whole is concerned, we are also cognizant of you know, developing the parks that we have. Looking where we have our main town park, that wasn't a developer-driven thing and council is aware that it's filling up and so, now where do we go from here? So, those are all things for the planning session in November which council will look at.”  

Now that the Public Hearing has taken place, Dyck says it’s up to the different levels of government to make a decision on the rezoning request before it is brought back to Niverville Town Council for 3rd and 4th Readings.  

To which he says, “If they say they have no issue with it, whether it be the Ag Department, the Municipal Affairs Department, the Infrastructure Department, Water stewardship, et cetera, then we’ll get the go-ahead. That said, we (Niverville Town Council) still have some questions from the province that we need to answer and we're happy to answer them, but it may take some time because of vacation schedules and the right people need to be at the meetings, the right people who have the authority to sign off and so on and so forth. So, we don't know the timeline. It could be weeks yet.”