A new development planned for Colchester County holds the potential to double the population of Bible Hill, N.S., over the next 25 years. 

Last month, the Municipality of Colchester council voted unanimously to approve a development agreement for Five Corners Properties.

Coun. Lisa Patton, who is involved with the company along with her husband Edson Patton, recused herself from the public hearing and vote. 

Up to 2,790 residential units are permitted in the comprehensive development district. 

“If this fills up like it could in 25 years, we could be doubling our population,” said Kevin Kennedy, chair of the Bible Hill Village commission.  

“How we form it, shape it, how the community grows. It’s a nice problem to solve and hopefully we grow with the right infrastructure,” he added. 

Jim Lorraine, president of Five Corners Properties, said the 64 hectares where the development will be built was previously owned by a local farmer, but has not been used for agriculture for a number of years.

“But the farmland as it sits now, really because of densification in the local neighbourhood, it’s not conducive to modern agricultural practices anymore,” said Lorraine.

The development agreement permits single-family homes, townhomes, and multi-unit buildings up to eight storeys. There is also eight hectares of mixed-use commercial area. 

Lorraine said he has heard from many groups expressing interest in Five Corners, ranging from people looking to build single-family homes to small construction firms and large real estate developers. 

The first phase, which could start construction this year, allows for about 145 single-family homes and townhouses built in two different neighbourhoods, Lorraine said. 

Up to 300 units are also expected to be built in an area off Pictou Road. A connector road through the development to the intersection of Vimy Road and Farnham Road is also planned. 

Current Bible Hill residents have expressed concerns about the impact that such population growth could have on traffic and emergency services.

“We’re extremely conscious of community safety in Colchester County. So we’re very much in tune with the need,” said Mayor Christine Blair at a public hearing in February where residents shared their concerns. 

Nova Scotia Public Works, which owns land at the intersection of Pictou Road and Main Street, said there is no construction of a roundabout planned at this time. 

Up to 10 stakeholders will be part of the design of each phase of the project, said Paul Smith, director of community development at the Municipality of Colchester. He added that the provincial Department of Public Works as well as the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources were among those  consulted during the approval process. 

“Their input at that stage will become far more focused and ensuring that all of the I’s have been dotted and the T’s crossed and that it can happen, just the way it is planned to happen,” he said.

“This is certainly one of the most ambitious projects that has come along in my tenure here for more than 30 years. So, it’s huge in scale and it’s ambitious in terms of what the developers hope to accomplish through this project.”

Bible Hill residents also expressed concern about how the underground aquifer, which many in the area rely on for well water, could be affected by developing the former farmland.

Smith said the recharge area for the aquifer is large, and the province did not express concerns. 

Lorraine noted that the units within the project will be serviced by the Truro Water Utility. He said the response has been overwhelmingly positive, and hopes it can address housing demand. 

“There’s not enough housing stock around,” he said.

“That’s the issue that’s driving the affordability. So a project like this can help address something like that in terms of young people who currently believe there’s no future hope of them getting into home ownership.”

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