New developments in Wolfville expected to bring 3,500 more residents to town

The town of Wolfville expects to grow by more than 50 per cent in the coming years as it develops a new area at the east end of the town.

More than 90 acres of land will be developed on both the east and west sides of Maple Street under the east end secondary planning process.

The first phase north of Reservoir Park, on the west side, is being prepared. Roads are being built, and water and wastewater infrastructure is in place. The sewage treatment plant expansion has been developed over the past few years.

“Speaking with our planner, he thinks that in the spring we’ll see foundations for buildings going in,” Mayor Wendy Donovan said. Some of the land on the other side of the road, which is four individual parcels, may be developed in the short term.

When all land is developed there could be at least 3,500 more residents in the town, Donovan said. The current population is estimated at about 5,000, not including 3,800 to 4,000 Acadian university students during the school year.

Donovan said the additional housing is important because there is not enough for the number of people who want to live in the town.

The developments will include townhouses, some low-rise buildings and six-storey apartment buildings, along with commercial development to serve the new residents and keep all that traffic from funneling into the centre of town.

“That’s not to take anything away from the downtown,” Donovan said. “We’re a town that, when it was planned 125 years ago, they didn’t plan for extra-wide main streets so it can get congested at times.”

There is already a regional transportation study that has been undertaken to look at increasing public transit that will have benefits for the new development, and Donovan says active transportation routes are planned as well for there and other parts of town to try to reduce vehicle traffic.

Donovan said the prospect of a big increase in people in the town is exciting and will mean an increase in municipal departments as well.

“You can’t grow them until the population is there to support them, but we do have plans to, within the next two years, to move the fire station. As soon as that happens, a new library and town hall is planned for the site about four years from now, with anticipation of more staff as the town grows.”

Right now town hall shares a building with the fire department and office space for the RCMP office in the town on Main Street.