Our snow days are numbered

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats was one of my favourite books as a kid. It tells the story of a boy named Peter wandering around his neighborhood, having his first experiences of snow. On his way home, Peter makes a snowball and tucks it in his coat pocket for safekeeping. Later, when he goes to retrieve it, he’s surprised to find that it’s gone. A wet spot remains—the only clue it was ever there. 

It’s a simple but important lesson about snow. No matter how much joy and danger and frustration it brings, it all melts away in the end. Snow might be enduring here in St. John’s, much to our chagrin, but it’s still fleeting, like life itself. 

Weathering change is the theme this week—which also happens to be Heritage Week—as council reflects on another death, and tends to the business of what must be preserved and remembered, removed, replaced, or retrofitted. 

A moment of silence

The death of Elizabeth Laurie on Monday cast a pall over Tuesday’s council proceedings. The beloved Paradise town councillor died of cancer at 44. Before the meeting got underway, Mayor Danny Breen extended his deepest condolences to Laurie’s family and friends on behalf of the St. John’s city council. 

He noted that their municipal careers shared parallel trajectories until now: she was elected to council in Paradise in 2009, the same year Breen and Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’Leary were both elected in St. John’s. Laurie was somebody “we all drew a lot of inspiration from,” Breen said, and “she had a great impact on our community.” He asked everyone to take a moment of silence in Laurie’s honour as a hush passed over chambers.

Then Breen segued into the land acknowledgement as council resumed its regular programming. Everyone but Counc. Debbie Hanlon was present, with Counc. Ophelia Ravencroft sick at home but joining remotely. 

Keep your eye on the heritage, not the snow

Breen proclaimed February 19 as Heritage Day, and February 19-25 as Heritage Week, “a time to reflect on the achievements of past generations and to accept responsibility for protecting our heritage.” He invited city planner Lindsay Church to the podium, as well as Chief Municipal Planner Ken O’Brien.  

“How long have you been with the city now, Ken?” Breen asked. O’Brien replied, “A good while!” an understatement made apparent by the chorus of laughter it elicited from the crowd. Now in his 27th year of service, O’Brien might soon deserve a heritage designation himself.  

“When we look behind those big snow banks in our older areas of the city to look at the beautiful buildings,” O’Brien said, you’ll see “buildings that have stood the test of time that are real landmarks of St. John’s.” 

Snow is fleeting, but heritage lasts forever—hopefully. 

Counc. Maggie Burton noted St. John’s currently has 159 buildings with heritage status. She applauded those putting in the time, effort, and money to “preserve our beautiful heritage stock to keep it for future generations to enjoy.” As someone who lives in a 19th century home herself, she says, she knows how challenging it can be and encouraged anyone who thinks their property might deserve a heritage designation, to reach out to city staff. 

Poetry as community outreach

Breen proclaimed Mark Callanan, who was in attendance, as poet laureate of the City of St. John’s. He mispronounced Callanan’s name, but quickly recovered. “I slipped an ‘h’ in there when I shouldn’t have!” he joked, a tendency which, incidentally, is also very much a part of Newfoundland’s linguistic heritage. 

Callanan was chosen by the council back in October as poet laureate, a designation that is meant to acknowledge and celebrate poets, literary arts, and their value and contribution to civic life. 

Callanan is an accomplished poet with three volumes of poetry, and two chapbooks. He is also one of the founding editors of local literary magazine Riddle Fence.

“I view this position as one of…community outreach,” Callanan explained, “not just connecting people to poetry—that much maligned, esoteric art—but connecting people to people, because that, at its root, is what poetry does.” Poetry techniques like rhyme and metaphor, he explained, connect separate, disparate things. 

Callanan read his short poem “Fort.” It’s a timely selection, he said, given the amount of snow we’ve had lately. 

Building snow forts is a common practice for children in winter. It might seem innocuous enough, but the poem invites us to consider its darker side. If children can shape snow into anything at all, why must it be a protective, reinforced structure with military associations? 

The poem ends with a description of snow-caked mittens draped over a hot radiator, dripping, softening, and opening up like hands. It’s a lovely lasting image that suggests safety through a warm welcome, not a cold defense. 

Kenmount Terrace keeps on sprawling 

Council approved an application to upgrade storm sewer and headwall infrastructure within the floodplain at 374B Kenmount Rd. The work is part of the large Bristolwood residential development of 500 single-family detached homes happening in Kenmount Terrace. 

They also approved an application to add an extension to the front of 22 Belfast St. which will bring it closer to the street, but still keeps it in alignment with the varied development in the area.

The saga continues at 841 Thorburn Road

Council rejected an application for an accessory building at 841 Thorburn Rd. in the Broad Cove watershed. The structure has already been built without a permit and is currently the second accessory building on the property.  According to regulations, only one accessory building for residential use can be present on the watershed so one of the buildings has to be removed. 

“Protecting the watershed is important, and letting any creep happen is detrimental,” Counc. Ron Ellsworth said, echoing a statement he made regarding the property back in 2015. When he inquired about next steps, Deputy City Manager Jason Sinyard grew solemn. He explained they’ll approach the property owner about removing the structure, and “if there’s non-compliance it will resort to legal action which will take its course.”

Let me park on Hamilton Avenue

Council deferred its decision on a discretionary use application for a takeout restaurant at 319 Hamilton Ave. in order to review the current on-street parking restrictions. The initial recommendation was to reject the application outright because there is not enough parking to support the intensity of use. The property is in a high traffic area and was most recently a smoke shop.

Ravencroft proposed the decision be deferred. She explained that she did not want to reject an application solely on parking requirements alone—unless council had exhausted all options. 

She noted, for example, that there is a “no stopping here to corner” outside of the building, and wondered if this was something that could be changed to accommodate the proposed business. Sinyard replied that he’d need more time to consult with staff about the original rationale for the restrictions before answering. 

“Changes like that typically have consequences,” Sinyard said, “unintended consequences.” 

“Gentle increase” in density on Harvey Road

Council agreed to exempt 51 Harvey Rd. from the St. John’s heritage design standards and adopt the heritage report submitted by unArchitecure, to accommodate the application for a mixed-use building. Heritage reports address any anticipated impacts a development might have on the heritage value of a property or streetscape and are required to accompany any development applications in a heritage zone. Burton noted that the applicant hasn’t requested any other exemptions.

At five storeys, the mid-rise building “has density, but still has a good relationship to the street so it’s not [… ] drastically out of context,” Burton said, “it’s what we might call ‘a gentle increase’ in density in the area, and I’m happy to see it. I think it’s the kind of thing we need in the downtown.”

The proposed building will fill up what is now a vacant lot. There will be office space on the main floor, and residential units on the other four floors. It was designed in response to the historic pattern of the street, but it is not in line with the current adjacent buildings which is not an issue given that most of them were rebuilt in 1992 in the aftermath of C.L.B Armory fire. 

“We don’t go down the road of trying to create ‘faux-historic’ designs because we cannot reenact the past,” O’Leary said. “All we can do is continue to move things forward and again, not live in a complete petri dish.”

Churches on the outskirts

Council approved the request to consider rezoning of 50 International Pl. off Major’s Path—from the open space zone to the commercial highway zone—to accommodate an application for a place of worship. There is already a place of worship next to it, at 40 International Pl., and there are plans to consolidate the two lots. It will be advertised for public review upon completion of the Virginia River floodplain study. 

Tenders awarded

Council awarded a $357,762 contract for the detailed design for the crosstown shared-use path from Canada Drive to the T’Railway to CBCL Ltd., a multidisciplinary engineering and environmental consulting company with offices in five provinces. The design should be completed by Aug. 31, 2024 so a construction tender can be called for September. 

“I’m very excited to see this happening,” O’Leary added. “I can’t wait to get on that bike and go across it from the T’railway.” 

Meanwhile, Professional Uniform and Mats Inc. was awarded a contract for the supply and delivery of uniform clothing for $34,998.

Travel plans

The city’s internal auditor will attend the Institute of Internal Auditors “Great Audit Minds”  conference in Las Vegas from March 11-14, which sounds like it might be the wildest conference Vegas has ever seen.

The city manager Kevin Breen will attend the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators conference  in Banff, Alta. June 3-5, 2024. Mayor Breen meanwhile, as well as O’Leary, and Burton will be attending the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Annual Conference in Calgary June 6-9, 2024.

O’Leary expressed her excitement for the conference, where there will be more than 1000 elected officials in attendance. “Redefining our Future” is the theme, she said, and there will hopefully be lots of discussions about a new fiscal framework that includes more investment from the federal government. “That’s the prayer right now for municipalities,” she added. “We cannot, with the existing fiscal framework, continue to run the business of cities across the country.”

Breen announced the city’s 2023 Economic Review has been released, and it offers some good news: the city is positioned for economic growth in 2024. The population has grown, and so has household income, while retail sales are up and unemployment is down. 

Removing obstacles for daycares

Council approved the adoption of the text amendments to Envision St. John’s Development Regulations—originally suggested back in the summer—so that they align with the province’s regulations.

To support the development of more daycares in the city, they also made daycare a permitted use in commercial and institutional zones. At the same time, they removed daycare as a discretionary use in unserviced areas–like those zoned rural residential–due to the safety concerns that were previously raised by the St. John’s Regional Fire Department. Daycares are priority areas and must be accessible within a certain distance and time frame.

Violence and crime prevention strategy

Breen announced the city has launched its public engagement process around the new violence and crime prevention strategy. The work is made possible by Public Safety Canada’s building safer communities fund, which is meant to address the social determinants of violence and crime, particularly concerning children, young adults, and their families.

O’Leary encouraged everyone to participate in the process. “We know it has been troubling for our citizens—the increase in crime and violence,”she said, adding it’s important to figure out “how we can tackle that as a growing city.”

St. Clare’s Hospital replacement

The demolition of the nurses residence on the former Grace Hospital grounds began last week, with news circulating that the area is no longer being considered as the site for the future St. Clare’s Hospital replacement. 

Breen explained that he has reached out to the minister of health and the minister of transportation and infrastructure to discuss what the plans are.

Ravencroft added that she’d like to urge the province to reconsider the area as a potential site for the hospital. “In my opinion as a ward councillor and a resident of that area, it really is quite ideal.” O’Leary also emphasized the importance of maintaining the need for a hospital in that area.  

Increase in overdoses

St. John’s had a surge in overdose deaths this past week, possibly linked to the contaminated drug supply. Ravencroft renewed her call to the provincial government for a safe injection site and implored members of the public to get a naloxone kit. If you don’t have one, they are available for free to the public. The Safe Works Access Program is a good place to start. 

“This is critical stuff. And we all have to stand together,” Ravencroft said. “Drug users are human beings, they’re members of our community. Collective safety and harm reduction are the ways forward and they will save lives.” 

Folk festival furor

O’Leary spoke to some of the public outcry that was heard around the city this week over the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival’s decision to relocate its all-ages section away from the main stage. She acknowledged “the good work and the tough work” festival organizers have been doing by trying to balance accessibility with sustainability. 

“We don’t want the folk festival to fail, it is a fantastic event. But we have to move forward, and sometimes that means changes.” However, “one of the things that has been highlighted,” O’Leary noted, “is the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation, and its archaic regulations, and how problematic that is in trying to create that accessible space.” 

Speaking of showcasing artists, Counc. Jill Bruce noted the city has released its annual call for performers. Opportunities include their Music @ Concert series, the downtown pedestrian mall, and dockside welcomes when the cruise ships are in port, among others. 

Oh, and about that snowfall…

While the council danced around the topic of snow throughout the meeting, with cagey references to snow banks and residents minding their backs while shoveling, by the end, snow clearing was finally addressed head on.

Bruce recognized that while there are a lot of things to be angry and upset about, she’s seen a great deal of patience in the past week, and wanted to thank residents. “Bear with us,” she added. “Staff are doing the best they can.”

Counc. Jamie Korab also chimed in, noting that the city gets 335 cm of snow a year, on average, and a quarter of that fell in the previous six days. Because of the length of the snow events—one that lasted 48 hours—he admitted there were delays getting to priority areas. Just about every street needs widening and blowback, with many streets needing full snow removal. Some sidewalks also haven’t been done, he said. 

As an aside, I noticed the city closed part of Hebron Way on Monday for safety reasons. They advised motorists to avoid it due to heavy drifting and poor visibility. It’s curious that they don’t offer those same kinds of warnings to pedestrians. Korab wanted to assure residents that all the city’s equipment is out—as are its contractors—while its staff is working long hours. 

“As always, we’ll get through it.”