Homeowners on P.E.I.'s South Shore push back against new subdivision development

Some homeowners in Rice Point along P.E.I.'s southern coast say they've been blindsided by plans for a new waterfront subdivision, which they worry will alter the rural landscape and put a strain on community infrastructure.

They say they only became aware the project was forging ahead last week, when construction started to convert 44 acres of farmland into a new 19-lot subdivision. 

"The diggers showed up one day. That's when I found out this was happening," said Daniel Theriault, who lives across the road from the new subdivision.

"We certainly haven't gotten any notices about development or anything like that... And the talk in the community was that it would never go through."

Initially, the subdivision application didn't go through.

Back in 2021, landowners Lucas and Jennie Arsenault had their application to create a subdivision denied by what was then called the P.E.I. Department of Agriculture and Land. 

In its decision, the department said:

However, the Arsenaults appealed that decision in front of the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC). In May 2023, after a three-day hearing, IRAC overturned the department's decision and approved the subdivision.

The ruling was posted online. In it, the commission said concerns over removing farmland and affecting viewscapes were not sufficient reasons to reject a subdivision under the P.E.I. Planning Act. It also said the department's arguments were "not without significant flaws."

Dan Sud, who lives near the new subdivision, said he and his neighbours weren't aware of IRAC's ruling. 

"It was quietly overturned in May 2023, without us having any kind of information, visibility, consultation, or otherwise into the matter," he said. "We thought [that] the preservation of agricultural land was something the province valued and that this would be upheld, even in an appeal process.

"Had we known one took place, we would've wanted to participate."

IRAC posted notice of the appeal on its website, and ran ads about plans for the public hearing online and in the newspaper. 

However, as the commission said in an email to CBC News: "Community consultation and/or public input is not part of the appeal process... If a member of the public wishes to be involved in the appeal process, they are required to apply for intervener status and the commission must approve this application."