Bang On Mr. Caseley... but "good luck" anyway!

I couldn't agree more with Mr. Caseley's observations that chasing developers away because some NIMBY's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NIMBY show up certainly sends the message to developers to stay away from developing in that Town... on the other hand there was a recent story on CBC where there was great concern from local citizens that Downtown Kensington was losing businesses and starting to look quite "rundown"...

It's sort of a catch 22 if you want a healthy Downtown then you have to let your Community grow and develop in order to create demand... and that's where Council have to learn to "balance" in the best interests of the overall community... my guess is that the neighbours claim that their real estate values would go down by 25% because the area is going to be more densely populated is a bit of “red herring” as it's been my experience that if your community is growing then real estate values grow with it, but when you stop demand then that's when the values start to go down...  but when you throw those Clowns from IRAC into the equation then it's a safe bet your project is dead as they give more balance to NIMBY’s than someone trying to fuel the economy... but "good luck" anyway Mr. Caseley...

Kensington land dispute before IRAC
Thursday, February 10, 2011
CBC News

The Town of Kensington, P.E.I. sent the wrong message when it rejected a residential development plan, says the man who wants to build it.

Caseley was one of several developers approached by Mayor Gordon Coffin to build more single dwelling homes in Kensington. Caseley put together a plan to expand his Rosewood subdivision, built 20 years ago.

But instead of single family dwellings, he proposed to put in duplexes and one multiplex. Caseley said the cost of building had doubled and multi-units were more economical. The land was never zoned, so Casely went to the town for approval. Much to his surprise the residents of Rosewood opposed the development.

"Quite a big reaction really," said Caseley. "They thought there was going to be more traffic and it was going to lower their property values by 25 per cent."

On investigating the issue, council discovered that wasn't true. In fact, values would likely increase with the expansion. Despite that, council voted unanimously against the plan.

Mayor Gordon Coffin said councillors believed the concerns of residents should be listened to.

Caseley was especially surprised by the opposition to the multi-unit buildings because there are already three six-unit buildings in the subdivision. Caseley said the council vote sends a bad message to developers.

"Kensington has a long history of shooting themselves in the foot," he said. "A developer would look at that and say 'well, guess they're impossible to deal with. We'll just go somewhere else and develop.'"

Caseley has already invested $45,000 in the project and has appealed the council vote to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission. IRAC is expected to make a decision by the end of this month.