Senior citizens usually don't make poor neighbours, although a planned development in the east end of St. John's is raising concerns among parents of a nearby school.

A complex called Tiffany Village will house several hundred seniors, off Tiffany Lane and near Torbay Road. The complex will include about 450 units in a series of highrise and lowrise buildings.

While the developer believes that a traffic study is not necessary, the council at Mary Queen of Peace Elementary School doesn't agree. Cars heading to Tiffany Lane, which is already home to a series of apartment and condominium complexes, frequently cut across the school's parking lot.

"We're very concerned that if there's not a proper traffic assessment done by city council, and they don't decide if this is a roadway or a parking lot, then the [danger to] our kids is going to be heightened," said Paul Woodruff, who chairs the school council.

"That's not something we're really welcoming."

The main access point to Mary Queen of Peace Elementary resembles a thoroughfare, as it bypasses a Roman Catholic church of the same name. However, the "road" is legally a parking lot that can be used as a thoroughfare in an emergency.

Cars can access Tiffany Lane legally from Mount Cashel Road.

"It's such a large development that's going up with ... no new roads accessing Tiffany Lane, that the new residents, the service people, visitors, and maybe even the construction vehicles will have to be passing through either Mount Cashel Road or in front of our school," Woodruff said.

Woodruff said the school council is not opposed to Tiffany Village itself, but wants to be sure there will not be a harmful effect on traffic by the school.

"We're not trying to shut anything down. We just want them to look at the situation," he said Monday.

School officials have already flagged existing problems with traffic by Mary Queen of Peace, a K-6 school with about 740 students, Woodruff said.