As a long time resident of the beach, I have to agree with Scott and a few others on this forum,that I'm not sure all this change is for the better. This is not a reflection on those who have bought at the Andrin or Dynes sites but on the city which is broke and needs the revenue and the developers who maximize profits by cramming as much in as possible. I live directly across from the Andrin site and while I believe they will be nice homes when finished and certainly nicer to look at than the view I have now since they cut down the trees to build the homes,70 homes in that space just seems to us long time residents too much. I can walk 4-5 blocks in either direction counting homes on both sides of the Blvd. to count 70 and the Dynes project is the same. I'm afraid if the province sells the Bell Cairn site beside me that could easily add another 150 homes.I'm not against progress but I wish we could have homes/townhomes that allowed for more space/yards . The homes by the ball diamond are an example where nice homes were built with nice sized yards keeping more in common with existing homes.I also agree that some homes would best be knocked over and rebuilt so long as they were rebuilt as single family homes which is what most are suppose to be built as.
With regard to the taxes, the reason most of us feel put out is because the increase in the property taxes down here have driven many long time residents to leave because they are now retired/seniors and can no longer afford to stay. I have relatives who lived their whole married life on the beach who left because they couldn't justify spending $5,000 of their pension yearly on taxes for their tiny home on the lake.All the new homeowners will be paying the same I believe once they get their assessments.The ones on the lakeside even more.I, myself after building a new home down here am having second thoughts about staying. In 4 years the assessment has gone up almost 100 % even though we've not done anything other than adding grass since building.This is only a good thing for those who wish to go not stay.I love the beach but I'm not sure I still love it enough to pay 10 K a year in taxes for garbage removal .Anyway, welcome to the Beach, if you see me cutting the grass or playing in the yard with my kids say hello and bring deep pockets,you're going to need them
With regard to the taxes, the reason most of us feel put out is because the increase in the property taxes down here have driven many long time residents to leave because they are now retired/seniors and can no longer afford to stay. I have relatives who lived their whole married life on the beach who left because they couldn't justify spending $5,000 of their pension yearly on taxes for their tiny home on the lake.All the new homeowners will be paying the same I believe once they get their assessments.The ones on the lakeside even more.I, myself after building a new home down here am having second thoughts about staying. In 4 years the assessment has gone up almost 100 % even though we've not done anything other than adding grass since building.This is only a good thing for those who wish to go not stay.I love the beach but I'm not sure I still love it enough to pay 10 K a year in taxes for garbage removal .Anyway, welcome to the Beach, if you see me cutting the grass or playing in the yard with my kids say hello and bring deep pockets,you're going to need them