N.B. relents on amalgamation for some in Moncton area

Rodney Arsenault stands in his yard west of Moncton as several chickens cluck outside their coop.

His home is among dozens developed in recent decades in an unincorporated area on the city's outskirts, north of Berry Mills Road.

"I actually used to live in [Moncton's] north end, just behind the fire station on Hildegarde, and I moved out here to get the rural setting and the rural environment with our kids," Arsenault said in an interview.

By next year, he'll be a Moncton resident again. Local governance reforms will see his neighbourhood off the Charles Lutes Road amalgamated with the city.

It's a plan that's been met with opposition. Hundreds signed an online petition and met in recent weeks with Daniel Allain, the province's minister of local governance reform.

What's transpired offers a glimpse at some of the resistance to local governance reforms bubbling up in the province as plans move closer to implementation.

This month, the government partially relented for those opposed to joining Moncton, unlike with Chipman and Minto, or Sackville and Dorchester, where the province hasn't backed down on its amalgamation plans.

Legislation passed in December allows the government to reduce the number of local government entities cities, towns, villages and unincorporated local service districts from 340 to 90. Theseareas will be merged with existing municipalities, or with other LSDs, to form new communities.

Moncton was set to absorb about seven per cent of the adjoining local service district that straddlesthe Trans-Canada Highway, like the area Arsenault moved to about a decade ago.

"Our taxes played a key role because we budgeted that when we built the house," he said, adding other factors included space for children to be able to explore, and to have backyard chickens. Arsenault has more than the four hens allowed by Moncton's bylaws.

Former Moncton resident wants to keep new home out of upcoming amalgamation

3 years ago

Duration 2:12

Rodney Arsenault moved out of Moncton for a more rural lifestyle. Now, he's opposing New Brunswick's plan that would make him a city resident once again.

The petition started earlier this year doesn't outright oppose amalgamation. Instead, it asks the government to include the area where Arsenault lives, and locations on the other side of the Trans-Canada like Lutes Mountain,withina new community temporarily called Entity 32.

While it will still be a municipality and will berequired to have bylaws, the hope is that it will retain the rural character and avoid bylaws oriented for a denser urban centre.

Entity 32 will stretch north and west of the city to include Indian Mountain, Irishtown and Scotch Settlement.

"Our largest opposition to this change is that it will fundamentally change our way of life," the petition states.

Earlier this month, Allain's department told residents it would partially accept their request.

"The community around the Briggs Cross Road made a very good case for why their linkages are as much with Entity 32 as it is with the city, especially as it relates to their way of life," said Alysha Elliott, a spokesperson for the province, in an emailed statement to CBC on March 4.

But where Arsenault lives, on the other side of the highway,and the Eco360 solid waste facility south of Berry Mills Road,will still join the city.

Elliott said existing land use planning rules will remain until Moncton modifies its bylaws to include the additional area, saying there are different zones and different rules that apply to those different zones.

But Arsenault is frustrated by the province's decision.

"We felt like we weren't listened to, we weren't heard," hesaid.

He doesn't understand why the highway is considered the boundarywhen areas like Magnetic Hill are north of the highway, but already part of Moncton.

The petition says they don't want to see the higher taxes they worry will follow merging with the city.

Arsenault said they already have well and septic systems and don't need sidewalks or other services.

"We don't want city lights," he said. "It's nice to come out and look in the sky and see stars."

He's not sure what next steps residents may take to oppose amalgamation, but mentioned ideas like a protest or even hiring a lawyer.

In Moncton, Coun. Daniel Bourgeois suggested during a Feb. 28 committee meeting that council should discuss using a different tax rate for those areas that will be added to the city. It's unclear if or when such a discussion will take place.

However, the province says it will require the city to apply a different tax rate and impose that through regulations that implement the local governance reforms.

Elliott wrote that "this area will have a different tax rate based on the services they have access to and benefit from."

Creating a tiered tax system was something residents of Timberline Road, near Biggs Cross Road, had sought from the city in 2019.

Residents of those areas argued they shouldn't pay the same rate as those living downtown as they don't have park space, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, or water and sewer lines.

The city ultimately rejected the request for a differential rate.