The city’s financial outlook which Mayor Don Darling calls scary is one reason he’s in favour of examining whether city owned land on Sandy Point Road at Rockwood Park should be developed.
Then there’s the location with a nearby golf course along with proximity to the Regional Hospital and U-N-B Saint John which Darling believes would be attractive to would be homeowners.
Darling also detects a growing interest on the part of developers.
Councillor Gary Sullivan admits he was a little surprised his fellow councillors decided to reject his idea to remove Sandy Point Road and Tucker Park off the city’s growth map to avoid potential commercial or residential development near Rockwood Park.
Sullivan says a previous council already looked into the possibility which prompted large community consultation and ultimately resulted in all of the city owned properties south-east of Sandy Point Road being designated as part of Rockwood Park.
City staff will be looking at one specific 11 acre property on Sandy Point Road and make a recommendation in August in terms of whether or not it has the potential for development.
