Public meetings held in Lower Sackville, N.S., over floodplains, proposed development regulations

Dozens of people gathered at the Sackville Lions Club in Lower Sackville, N.S., Wednesday night for a public meeting to discuss the floodplains around the Sackville River and Little Sackville River.

Proposed land development regulations for the floodplains have been developed to carry out recommendations outlined in a 2017 study published by the Halifax Regional Municipality.

The mapping produced under the study was updated earlier this year to account for changes that have taken place since the study was published within the floodplains.

Residents’ long-running concerns about their homes were also amplified by major flooding in the area last summer.

The proposed regulations include having no chemical or gas stations in the area and designated 'buffer' areas where subdivisions won't be built.

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“They're looking to protect the future; they're looking to not allow things to get worse than they are,” said Paul Russell, councillor for Lower Sackville.

“We recognize that flooding is going to happen, that there is a floodplain, there might be disagreements about where the floodplain is, and what defines the floodplain, but if you are in a floodplain that’s where you are,” he added.

“We would need regulations to protect the property and just make sure that we don’t allow further development that will ultimately be negatively impacted.”

Many homeowners voiced concerns over their property values during the Wednesday night meeting and are hopeful the province will step up to help.

“Many people here tonight were complaining about their property, there's 900 properties in the floodplain now,” said Walter Regan, the former president of the Sackville Rivers Association.

“Where's the province? We need the province to step up, the province of Nova Scotia, to come with a cheque and start paying these properties off and buying them and tearing the houses down and getting them out of the floodplain, but we need the province.”

Russell noted it will be up to the new council, who will be elected in October, to take action on the issue.

Wednesday’s meeting was the second of two for residents to provide their input on the subject.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.