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Fredericton’s Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) has recommended against a rezoning proposal to build a new jail in Vanier Industrial Park, signalling trouble ahead for the project.
The provincial government’s plan to build the $32-million jail, consisting of 109 beds, faced criticism when the rezoning proposal was presented to the committee on Dec. 14.
The provincial government had submitted an offer to purchase a parcel of land in the city-owned industrial area.
“At the Planning Advisory Committee, the applicant, who was from the Department of Justice and Public Safety, gave a pitch of why the correctional facility would be a good idea. And then there were many people who spoke against it,” said Valerya Edelman, a social worker and activist, in an interview with the NB Media Co-op.
She said the PAC chair indicated the committee had received some 80 letters opposing the project, over 20 of them living in the Lincoln Heights area near the industrial park.
Watch the full interview with Edelman:
The provincial government has argued that the new correctional facility is a solution to the overcrowding problem in existing prisons jailing men within the province. However, a CBC investigation noted men’s jails were not overpopulated until months after the announcement of the new jail.
The proposed correctional facility will “include five units, each containing 20 beds, plus nine segregation and admissions cells,” according to a media release from the province.
The rezoning proposal met criticisms from locals of the Lincoln Heights area, who say the jail will lower the market value of their homes and who fear social problems resulting from the jail, which would be some 700 metres away from the residential area.
“The government has thousands of acres of land well away from residential areas,” Linda Lee, a resident of the area, wrote to the PAC. ”Why would you even think to build this near family communities and what about the value of our homes.”
Opponents of the jail also told the committee the project would target the most vulnerable while doing nothing to address social problems such as poverty and drug addiction.
“We’re in the middle of an affordability crisis for housing, food, and fuel and the construction of a prison satisfies none of these needs,” wrote Liam Roy. “A prison in Fredericton would be a waste of time and resources better spent on addressing the actual, substantive crises affecting Frederictonians and New Brunswickers.”
The PAC recommended denying the zoning amendment required for the project, in a 4-3 vote.
The application, along with the PAC recommendation, will go to city council on January 9 and 23 for second and third readings.
The application will need an 8-4 vote in favour project to pass.
Greg Ericson, deputy mayor and Ward 8 councillor told the NB Media Co-op: “Council’s role with respect to re-zoning applications is complicated from a governance perspective. When deciding re-zoning issues under the Community Planning Act, Council serves in a quasi-judicial role.
“As such and until the public has a chance to share its views during the first and second reading of the potential change to the respective zoning bylaw, Council has traditionally refrained from public comment in order to treat the potential apprehension of bias respectfully.”
New Brunswick Minister of Infrastructure Jeff Carr has stated the province will plan to build the jail somewhere else in the province if the City of Fredericton rejects the rezoning.
Arun Budhathoki is a video-journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Stations and Users (CACTUS).
