Council says no to Hardy's Arterial homes

People hoping to build homes on Hardy's Arterial will have to keep looking for other suitable locations.

The Port aux Basques Town Council announced its decision to deny all applications to develop Crown land in the area at Tuesday's council meeting. A total of 17 applications were on file with the town.

Mayor Brian Button said the decision wasn't reached lightly and was the subject of lengthy discussions between the councillors.

He said the council was concerned that approving the development of lots on the side road would lead to significant issues for the town in the future.

Mayor Button said the town has been left to deal with a variety of septic and water systems in other parts of town that were originally installed by individual homeowners. He cited the expensive, multi-year projects recently completed in Grand Bay Bottom, Newtown and Currie Avenue as examples.

The mayor explained that if lots were to be developed on Hardy's Arterial, the town would want to install the proper services in the area.

However, the town doesn't have the money required to do that.

Mayor Button said installing the required water and sewer systems, not to mention roads, sidewalks and other infrastructure, would cost a significant amount of money. That cost would not be recovered through the sale of the land lots as is the case for Smallwood and Tavernor drives.

He added that none of the councillors would live long enough to see the taxes generated from any houses built in the area to pay for the initial development costs.

"It's something that's just not in the cards," he said. "Unless we're in a position to put the proper systems in, I don't think we should be moving forward."

see Council says no Page 6