What Odds at City Hall: 16 January 2023
Amidst a protest outside City Hall, Council debates (and squashes) a nuisance lighting by-law. Also: a tiny home is coming to Patrick Street.
Besides Cllr Maggie Burton, who is on maternity leave, for a second week Cllr Debbie Hanlon was absent. Mayor Danny Breen said she was ill and not attending.
Before getting into his usual preamble, Mayor Breen welcomed those in the gallery and said it’s good to see a big crowd at City Hall.
This was a nod to the people who were there to see what would happen regarding a proposed motion about nuisance lighting that Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’Leary was bringing in and would turn out to dominate the meeting.
Starting off this Council meeting, there were three by-law amendments to go through.
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As Cllr Ian Froude said he would at last week’s council meeting, he made a motion to amend the Heritage By-Law to repeal Schedules A & C and replace them with revised Schedules A & C.
“The two changes this makes is that it revises the terms of reference,” said Cllr Froude. “The previous terms of reference required a landscape architect to be on the panel but given the limited number of people with that expertise in the City, the terms of reference will now have people with other demonstrated related areas of experience.”
The second change is the removal of 154 New Cove Road from the heritage buildings and maps.
He then followed that up with another by-law amendment—again relating to the issues around the former Baird’s Cottage—and stripped away its place on the City’s list of heritage buildings.
“This is again, procedural, as I noted a moment ago, to remove the building at 154 New Cove Road from the heritage by-law as it no longer exists as a building.”
Lights… Camera… Inaction!
As Deputy Mayor O’Leary said at last week’s council meeting that she would do, she made a request that the City of St. John’s request that the province amend the City of St. John’s Act to provide the City of St. John’s the jurisdiction to enact a Nuisance Lighting By-Law.
She said this was prompted by the issue going on in the Outer Battery, where she said light is being used like a weapon with no consequences.
She said they’ve heard from people and organizations over the negative effects of such intense lights on people and wildlife. She’s also disappointed that this hasn’t been resolved yet.
Without proper laws and enforcement this could happen elsewhere, she warned. She also spoke of the need to update the City’s known antiquated City of St. John’s Act.
It would be a good time to point out that half an hour before the council meeting started, there was a protest outside City Hall as a result of what Outer Battery residents see as inaction from the City. Approximately 50 people showed up in the rain to voice their displeasure, with signs and many holding flashlights.
However, one by one, Deputy Mayor O’Leary’s colleagues spoke out against her motion.
Cllr Ron Ellsworth was the first to speak in opposition, describing “this motion is nothing more than political expediency in my opinion.”
He said if the motion was to pass, then they were looking at a six to 12 month process, with staff needing to investigate best practices locally and nationally and go through the City of St. John’s Act so as to not contradict any by-law already in place.
Rather than just focus on this one by-law, he called on Minister John Abbot to focus on amending the City of St. John’s Act, which could be beneficial to the entire City.
Cllr Ellsworth said this issue started when a new property owner came into the Outer Battery and made changes “aggressively” that weren’t welcomed by the community. There were 26 different complaints, many of which are closed as resolved or unactionable.
While he believes this started with minor complaints and has escalated to the situation before today, City staff have previously tried to find solutions and mediated discussions. The property owner had agreed to move the lights if area residents agreed to stop attacking him on social media.
“Area residents declined this opportunity for a resolution,” Cllr Ellsworth began before he was interrupted by an outburst from the gallery. But Mayor Breen called for order.
Cllr Ellsworth stressed that the focus should be on updating the City of St. John’s Act, not a piecemeal approach. “We can’t legislate good neighbours,” he cautioned.
Cllr Ravencroft, who was attending virtually, said there was an increasing amount of vitriol spewed on social media at Council over the weekend, so she has decided to attend virtually.
She then added that this issue has been something the Council has been looking at for some time. “Even *if* this by-law was implemented right now, which it isn’t, it wouldn’t do anything for this issue. The process will be lengthy and no lighting currently judged problematic would be removed.”
While a by-law might be needed, the context of this is problematic, she said. And she’s also worrying about precedent and not focusing on the bigger picture of updating the City of St. John’s Act as opposed to specific by-laws. And like her colleague Cllr Ellsworth, she wants to see the City of St. John’s Act updated.
She said over social media there were a number of allegations against her, such as that she’s taken bribes from an area resident and allegations she had lied about incidents of past harassment for political gain.
Ultimately, Cllr Ravencroft said she was unable to support this motion, but stressed that she does understand the conditions as well as the residents’ concerns.
Cllr Sandy Hickman, Cllr Froude and Cllr Jamie Korab also spoke about the importance of amending the City of St. John’s Act.
Cllr Froude pointed out logistical problems with such a by-law and lack of any information over what such a by-law would look like, adding he was uncomfortable with asking the government to give them this with no details over what they’re asking for.
He said any nuisance by-law on light would be challenging to write or define, and difficult to enforce as a result.
“I’m also uncomfortable with this because we’ve seen… what the content of the actual by-law would include. So what are the definitions and parameters of the by-law. What problems is it trying to address. What will be allowed and what will not be allowed.”
Cllrs Hickman and Korab both asked Colin Way to turn off the light.
“It should be a surprise to nobody, particularly in government, that this is a problem with the CIty of St. John’s Act,” said Mayor Breen.
He said 32 years ago they asked for a new act, as they are a modern city with modern problems. While the Act can tell you the most efficient way to herd sheep down Water Street, he said it does nothing for the modern issues residents are dealing with but the City doesn’t have the tools to manage.
“I think instead of an amendment to one section of the City’s Act that’s not going to do what people think it’s going to do, I think we should be focused on getting the CIty Act completed.”
He said he met with the Municipal Affairs Minister last week, and it was indicated that the timetable for this update is the fall of 2024, so he said their MHAs should get that sped up and get this work done.
In the meantime, he said the light is still up. To remedy the immediate situation he said he’s identified an area of the Environmental Protection Act that he thinks can be used to remedy the immediate situation. He said he’s spoken with the Minister, who is consulting with staff.
Given the final word, Deputy Mayor O’Leary said lighting issues take place all over the City and are not solely an Outer Battery situation. But this problem has exposed a gap, and she refuted that this was something she was bringing forward as a stunt to look good.
The motion lost eight to one.
The council meeting went to recess for about a minute before reconvening and went at a pretty fast clip.
New Businesses Greenlit
Next on the agenda, Council signed off on a discretionary use application for a salon at 52 Stirling Crescent.
Cllr Korab said the business will operate Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The owner is the sole employee and will have four to five clients per day, with no scheduled overlap of appointments. On-site parking is also provided.
While there were two submissions sent to the City against the application, citing traffic concerns and a nearby park and signage, Cllr Korab said “Transportation Engineering reviewed the application, and they have no concerns with the amount of traffic or proximity in relation to the park entrance.”
A grocery store is coming to 86 O’Leary Avenue.
The City received an application for a retail grocery store, which will take up 418 square meters within the building. It will operate Monday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The store will employ between two to six people and parking will be provided on site.
Unfortunately, it was not mentioned which person or company put in the application. I did see this building for rent recently.
Council then voted unanimously to approve a contribution from the Civic Housing Action Fund of $60,000 for a Class B Cost Estimate for an affordable housing development at 55 Military Road.
Cllr Ravencroft said, in her usual speedy manner, that “In May 2022, Stella’s Circle received approval-in-principle for an affordable housing development at 55 Military Road. This proposed development will have 15 units of permanent, supportive housing targeted toward women.”
“Stella’s has requested financial support from the action fund to contribute to a Class B Cost Estimate quoted at $120,000. Stella’s has already raised $20,000 to begin this and are in the process of applying to other sources of funding,” like the CMHC and Community Housing Transformation Centre.
Tiny Home, Big Impact
It’s been a while since the issue of tiny homes came up on Council and it’s back!
Council voted to accept the staff report on 131 Patrick Street as the Heritage Report, for a proposed tiny home dwelling development fronting Power Street.
“I think it’s fantastic and I think if memory serves me correct, this is the first tiny house dwelling application that’s come forward since we changed the regulation to allow them,” said Cllr Froude. “And I think the design of it is quite clever.”
So the City received a subdivision and development application for a tiny home dwelling at 131 Patrick Street. According to the agenda, while the current address of the property is 131 Patrick Street, the applicant is proposing to subdivide the rear yards of 129 and 131 Patrick Street to create a new lot fronting Power Street.
The property is in Heritage Area 2, the Residential District of the St. John’s Municipal Plan and is zoned Residential 3. Within the Residential 3 Zone, a tiny home dwelling is a permitted use and defined as a single detached dwelling on a permanent foundation, with a ground floor area of less than 46 square metres—or in other words, 500 square feet, said Cllr Froude.
The Go Round
Cllr Ridgeley had harsh words for the presence of Minister Abbott at Council today, pointing out a few months ago when Kilbride was flooded by Hurricane Earl and he heard nothing from Abbott.
“Being political like that and showing up in the Chamber, I take offence by him coming here today and I just wanted to make that public,” Ridgeley said.
Cllr Ellsworth asked Deputy City Manager of Public Works Lynnann Winsor to speak on the issue of parking tickets being issued recently around snow clearing.
Winsor said even though there is a limited amount of snow on the ground, the winter parking ban is in effect. She explained the start dates for the overnight winter parking restrictions are communicated in advance so people know about them well in advance. The date is normally the first Wednesday in January, unless conditions change and need to be implemented beforehand. So the fact St. John’s gets variable weather and having a consistent start date helps minimize confusion around the parking ban.
Cllr Ellsworth also said it was great to see a large number of the public in attendance today. And in contrast with his colleague, Cllr Ridgeley, he was happy to see Minister Abbott there and that the province was taking ownership over this issue.
Cllr Ravencroft thanked people who’d attended a recent meeting with the Downtown Safety Coalition and the RNC and added she is in the process of helping create a parallel group alongside the Downtown Safety Coalition that will include the queer and trans community, drag community, burlesque, and feminist and harm reduction activities.
Mayor Breen also said it was great to see not only the public, but the media in the chambers today.
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