North End Neighbourhood Plan

Are you passionate about the North End? Do you want to shape

this community for the future? Join our Advisory Committee!

The City is recruiting for members of the Public to join the North End Neighbourhood Advisory Committee. We are looking for people who live, work, or volunteer within the North End Plan Area (see map above).

What is an Advisory Committee?

The Neighbourhood Advisory Committee will be an 11-person committee appointed by Common Council to provide feedback and advice on the goals, objectives, policies, and implementation for the North End Neighbourhood Plan. They will offer support and advice to city staff and the consultants, as well as the Growth Committee and Common Council as requested.

The Committee will champion the Plan within the community, promoting and encouraging the public to participate in the public engagement process.

What will be the Role of Committee Members?

The Advisory Committee will help review the feedback gathered from the community and ensure that the Plan reflects the neighbourhoods it includes:

Some of the responsibilities of the Committee will be:

• Offer advice and feedback to staff and the consultants
• Support and promote the public engagement process
• Help ensure transparency during the process.
• Help define the vision, goals, and objectives of the plan
• Help provide recommendations on reports, policies, maps, and sub-neighbourhood boundaries.
• Act as Ambassadors for the Neighbourhood Plan

Committee members will be expected to attend regular project meetings.

Who will be on the Committee?

The Advisory Committee will be appointed by Common Council and will include 11 people:

• Two members of Common Council.
• Nine community members, including:
  1. One representative proposed by ONE Change.
  2. One representative proposed by the Crescent Valley Resource Centre.

Who should join the Committee?

The members of the Committee should be diverse and represent the broader community. They must either live, work, or regularly volunteer within the Plan boundary.

We will also take into consideration other criteria including:

• Age
• Gender
• Socioeconomic status
• Interest, knowledge, or technical skills such as:
  1. Economics, diversity, education, culture, community development, architecture, and environment
• Developers, business owners, commercial property owners
• Renting vs owner occupied residents
• The ability and willingness to serve as an ambassador of the North End Neighbourhood Plan and to actively promote the public engagement sessions to the wider community

Those interested should be sure to provide ample details in the application.

What are some of the terms of membership?

• This is a volunteer position
• The Committee will be active for approximately 18 months.
• Attendance at the Committee meetings is required
• Members are expected to follow the policies found in the Terms of Reference.
  • https://shapeyourcitysaintjohn.ca/42888/widgets/181896/documents/130358

If you are interested in applying, please find the application on our City website at https://saintjohn.ca.granicus.com/boards/w/1c8752566a6a0e6b.

The Application deadline June 4th, 2024.

North End Neighbourhood Plan overview

A Neighbourhood Plan (also known as a Secondary Plan) is a document created to shape growth and development in a certain part of the City. The plan is created with the help of community members, to make sure that it represents the character of the community and highlights the interests of the public through creating thoughtful policy and action items. In 2019, Saint John adopted the Central Peninsula Secondary Plan as the first neighbourhood plan. We are now creating our second neighbourhood plan that will focus on the North End of the City.

The first step in a Neighbourhood Plan is defining a boundary of the area that will included in the Plan. A variety of factors must be considered when creating a boundary including:

• The amount of land to be included
• Natural and man-made boundaries such as rivers and highways
• Census Tracks
• Existing neighbourhoods (such as the Old North End and Crescent Valley)
• Important community spaces such as schools and parks

A plan must be the right size so that the Plan can be thoughtful and reflect the neighbourhoods that it includes.

During initial planning stages, City staff engaged with two major North End community groups to draft a boundary map that incorporates several established neighbourhoods and important commercial areas but does not include Milledgeville or Rockwood Park.

The North End Neighbourhood Plan aims to create a proposal for the revitalization of the entire plan area, but will also focus on the specific needs for the unique neighbourhoods within the boundary area. While the official boundaries of these neighbourhoods have not yet been defined, the public will be engaged during this process to ensure these boundaries and policy are suited to their communities. Similar to the Central Peninsula Plan, neighbourhoods are created to deal with unique elements of each community and will look to grow and enhance these neighbourhoods while protecting the things that make them unique and special.

The City is asking for feedback from the public regarding the drafted Boundary Map. We eagerly welcome any comments and feedback regarding thoughts on the proposed boundary of the whole area. The intent is to finalize the boundary map before moving forward with the next steps of the plan, including engaging the public to identify the neighbourhood boundaries for the Plan.

Community Engagement

The creation of the North End Neighbourhood Plan relies on feedback from community members, particularly those who live, work and play within the Plan boundary. Community Engagement will take place throughout the planning process. This will be done through a variety of events and online engagement tools, aiming to reach as many people as possible. This will include in person events, online engagement tools, and by sharing information on the Shape Your City Page for this project. A North End Neighbourhood Plan Advisory Committee that includes community members will also be created.

For the first stage, we are looking for public comment and feedback on the proposed North End Neighborhood Plan Boundary Map (seen above). We are collecting comments and feedback until May 6th, 2024. Please submit your comments to the forum below.

Committee

One of the next stages of the plan will be to create a Neighbourhood Advisory Committee. The Committee will be established to help shape the development of the Plan. Working with City Staff and a Consulting Firm, the Committee Members will make sure that the Plan reflects the unique character of the Community and Neighbourhoods. Terms of Reference will be established and published as well as a call for applications to the committee in the coming weeks.

Neighbourhoods:

The formal boundary of the included neighbourhoods has not yet been defined but there will be several of them. The communities themselves will be engaged during this process to define these neighbourhoods to ensure boundaries and policy are suited to these unique communities. Like the Central Peninsula Plan, these neighbourhoods are being created to deal with unique elements of each community and be personalized for their area and the character that defines them.