What Odds at City Hall 20 February 2023

Cllr Ian Froude was absent from today’s regular council meeting and Cllr Maggie Burton attended virtually.

Did you know today is Heritage Day and the start of Heritage Week? It was proclaimed by Mayor Danny Breen at the start of Council.

“Whereas Heritage Day and Heritage Week are a time to reflect on the achievements of past generations and to accept responsibility for protecting our heritage,” he announced.

“And whereas our citizens should be encouraged to celebrate Newfoundland and Labrador’s uniqueness and to rejoice in our heritage and environment. And whereas in 2023 the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador will celebrate our rich and diverse heritage.”

Charities Get Heritage Wiggle Room

So following on that heritage theme, there was discussion on a heritage by-law amendment. Council may now exempt the owner of a newly constructed building or a charitable organization which is so registered under the Income Tax Act (Canada), from the Heritage Design Standards.

Cllr Burton explained registered charities often work in heritage buildings and some are looking at housing initiatives, but are limited to what they can do to the buildings because of heritage bylaws.

With this amendment, she said Council will have the discretion to waive certain heritage restrictions to buildings, but would still ensure buildings are reflective of the City

Cllr Burton also brought in an amendment to waive the word ‘institution’ from the initial proposed amendment.

Cllr Ron Ellsworth said this was being done to accommodate First Light, and while he would support this, he had some issues with it being applied to non-profit but would ask Council to have a look at it later.

He was concerned they were leaving organizations out, as getting charity status is an expensive process for non-profits. He would like it to be broadened to support other groups.

Two Codes of Conduct Adopted

And as promised at last week’s council meeting, the Code of Conduct was before Council, which they unanimously voted to approve and adopt.

Back in September the provincial government set out that all Municipal Councils were required to establish their own codes of conduct. And March 1 was the deadline to have this in place, said Cllr Ellsworth.

The full document is on the City’s website. It will need to be gazetted before it is put into effect.

Cll Burton brought in a friendly amendment to section 21 of the code and wanted it to read “A Councillor shall not use their title or position as a councillor in a manner that would lead a member of the public to infer the City is endorsing a candidate or political party.”

Rolled into that amendment, City solicitor Cheryl Mullett also had some housekeeping, like correcting spelling and semicolons. It carried unanimously.

Cllr Ellsworth, in his closing debate, said they do see the need for code but expects some challenges in the future regarding conflict of interest.

He pointed out people who want to get involved in municipal politics might have to give up community work they’re involved in. Moreover he said he feels bad for those who are in small communities where people are often very involved in groups that service the community and will find themselves in conflict.

He expects people will have to choose between being involved in council and other community groups.

Following up on that, they voted to approve and adopt a Code of Conduct for Municipal Officials.

Council approved a 8.9% variance on the rear yard setback for a single detached dwelling at 19 Westmount Place.

Tower Trouble

Council voted to narrowly support the application for a Rogers telecommunications tower at 42 Sugarloaf Place.

“In accordance with the obligations under the Radiocommunication Act and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s Radiocommunication and Broadcasting Antenna Systems the City of St. John’s notified residents in the vicinity of 42 Sugarloaf Place of Rogers Communications Inc. intentions to construct a telecommunications tower system,” said Cllr Jamie Korab.

Rogers has provided information about health and safety requirements, as they’re required. Telecommunication towers and governed and approved by Innovation, Science & Economic Development Canada, while Health Canada has specific safety codes in place to limit exposure  and ensure protections to the public are there safety codes, said Cllr Korab.

He added that Council is not approving this, the federal government approval does it, and the City is tasked with public engagement on it.

Cllr Debbie Hanlon said there are about a dozen homes here and she’s heard from many people against it, so she would vote against it.

Cllr Ophelia Ravencroft also said they received a lot of comments against it but that she would side with technical expertise, pointing out some of the letters raised concerns like DNA breaking, growing brain tumors. But her understanding of the science doesn’t support those worries. So she would support the motion.

Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’Leary said science is a moving thing and there are articles about the health risks and impact of cell towers radiation. She said for her, the people in this neighbourhood have indicated they have concerns about the proximity. We need cell towers but how they plan where they can do is something they can have a voice on, and said that like Cllr Hanlon, she wouldn’t support it.

Cllr Ellsworth said there is a lot of fear mongering and misinformation about towers. He said he believes in the overall science. Plus he said Council has no jurisdiction on where towers go, and this is a courtesy. Whether they vote to support it, the tower will still go up.

Deputy City Manager of Planning, Engineering & Regulatory Services Jason Sinyard said the tower is located as far away from existing homes as can be. As well, from a municipal perspective, he said they take their cues from the federal government and Health Canada, who don’t have health concerns and regulate positioning of cell towers.

It passed, eight to two.

If you recall, last week Deputy Mayor O’Leary spoke about the deadline for people to get their comments in about this application and boy, people wrote in, and the recurring theme was health concerns.

Here are some of the snippets from letters sent it;

“… In all due respect, would you want this thing on top of you? Rogers nor you live here, we do, we do NOT want it here. It doesn’t matter what info you send me, it can all be easily debunked by science and it will simply depend on whom one chats with. Any reasonable doubt in the slightest is enough for anyone to reject such a project for the crystal clear health hazard reasons. Not to mention what it will do to our wells and well water. There is zero long term studies done on long term exposure for 5g and electromagnetic energy. One thing is certain it causes mass oxidative stress to the oxygen molecules inside our bodies. Affecting the electrons, causing them to split and reek havoc causing all sorts of inflammation.”

Another wrote in, “I am strongly opposed to such a project for I am completely aware of the extreme dangers and hazards associated with such a device. Even though my common sense has already warned me, there are many scientific studies done that shows that these electromagnetic waves, radiation from the electromagnetic spectrum, causes all sorts of diseases and disorders, such as…DNA breaking, breast tumors, brain tumors and all sorts of general cancers.”

Another letter, this one handwritten, cited similar health concerns as well as potential impacts to water quality.

Per Diem Boost

Council then signed off on an increase in the meal per diem from $53.50 to $100 per day – that’s  an 87% increase.

“Travel per diems are currently the same for both staff and members of Council at $53.50 per day. This rate has been in effect since at least 2009, maybe earlier,” said Cllr Ellsworth.

“Staff in Finance have received feedback that the per diem rate is not sufficient to cover the cost of meals when travelling on City business.”

For comparison, Conception Bay South’s rate is $75 and Paradise is $100.

Pedestrian Mall Changes

Council approved six recommendations noted for the 2023-2025 Downtown Pedestrian Mall and Parklet program.

They are: 

1. Staff recommend extended dates for the 2023 – 2025 DPM to coincide with the end of the school year (last Thursday of the week school closes) and to finish on Labour Day Monday of each year.

2023: Thursday June 22nd – Monday September 4th

Start dates for future years in line with the NLESD school calendar.

3. Staff recommend 3-year period for approvals of the Discretionary Use applications for Parklets.3-year approvals will result in a reduction of administrative time and cost to process applications.

A commitment will ensure consistency for business owners when planning parklet infrastructure

4. Staff recommend parklet rates remain as per 2022 program.

Presuming the Discretionary Use is approved for 3 years, businesses wishing to lease land for a parklets will enter into a lease for the three years with such lease setting out the period in each year they will lease the land. Businesses may choose to shorten or extend their annual lease period in subsequent years and the annual rental payment shall be adjusted accordingly. However, there shall be no refunds of rent in any year if the business chooses to open later and/or close earlier. The lease may also be terminated by a business.

5. Staff recommend an application period. 

While late applications will be considered, for business certainty, businesses will be asked to submit their application no later than April 30.This ensures program elements are finalized allowing business to open parklets on time. Such elements include the lease, insurance certificates, plans approvals, ensure safety elements are implemented and to allow for programming into the wayfinding application. 

6. Jersey Barrier Safety Requirement 

In 2022, jersey barriers were located alongside parklets to provide an additional safety protection against passing vehicles. It is anticipated approximately 30 jersey barriers will be required for the 2023 parklet program.

Annual cost to purchase and install and remove these barriers is approximately $12,000 to $20,000 (depending on how many new barriers will need to be purchased). Staff recommend this cost is absorbed by the City of St. John’s.

7. Staff recommend the development of a new By-Law for building standards of Parklets.  By-Law will cover standards including accessibility, sight distance, design and construction standards, use of cooking apparatus, use of heating apparatus, etc.Without a By-Law the only mechanism for enforcement is the termination of a lease. 

They unanimously voted to support the above recommendation.

Pedestrian Mall Footprint Challenged

In case you didn’t notice, Council kicked the second out of the seven recommendations to discuss it separately regarding shortening the pedestrian mall.

It was, as you might expect, a hot topic and everyone wanted to have their say.

So staff recommended a modified footprint for the pedestrian mall, to include Water Street from Adelaide Street to Clift’s Baird’s Cove. This modification, it is thought, would alleviate safety concerns with vehicles and pedestrians sharing the same road space, explained Cllr Hanlon.

“Continued vehicle access is required to the Courthouse, there’s nothing we can do about it,” she said.

“A modified footprint will allow unimpeded access to the Atlantic Place parking garage. Allow for improved accessible parking along Water Street. Working with GoBus, in conjunction with their safety supervisor and CSJ traffic services division, to identify an accessible drop off area on Water Street west of Clift’s Baird’s Cove. Previous attempts to eliminate interactions between pedestrians and vehicles in this area have not been very successful at all,” said Cllr Hanlon.

The Tourism and Event staff recommend they modify the footprint of the pedestrian mall to make it safer and more inclusive.

Cllr Ravencroft said she felt the concerns about safety and accessibility, but spoke out that if they shrink the pedestrian mall, that will impact a couple dozen businesses. 

She’s against taking a hammer to the footprint and believes that they can explore other solutions, so she couldn’t support this recommendation.

Deputy Mayor O’Leary also said she couldn’t support having the footprint chipped away at. Cllrs Buron and Bruce also spoke out against shrinking its footprint.

Cllr Ellsworth took issue over the words ‘chipping away’ and ‘shrinking’, arguing this new footprint would allow more activities for people who need services to enjoy these amenities. And he said this is an opportunity to do so, and this would boost inclusion, so he would be supporting this.

The motion lost three to seven.

Rezoning Considered

Council voted to consider rezoning 366-374 Empire Avenue from the Apartment 1 Zone to the Residential 3 to allow a townhouse development.

As well, the application will be advertised and referred to a public meeting chaired by an independent facilitator.

They also agreed to consider rezoning 40 Quidi Vidi Road from the Residential 3 Zone to the Residential Mixed Zone and approve the draft terms of reference for a land use report.

This is an application from First Light for the renovation and expansion to develop the group’s new headquarters, said Cllr Burton. It also came up at the start of the meeting.

As well, upon receiving a satisfactory land use report, Council will refer the application to a public meeting chaired by an independent facilitator for public input and feedback. 

Council approved the proposed amendment to remove the Youth Representative label from the Terms of Reference for the Advisory Committees, to direct Staff to ensure all terms of reference for committees reflect the need to have age diversity, and to further direct staff to ensure ongoing communication between the YEWG and City Committees.

Cllr Ravencroft added that she’d be keeping an eye on this and wants to see it actually include the voices of the young.

Two new members will be serving on the Arts & Culture Advisory Committee – after getting Council’s approval – and they are Mariana Castro-Carvajal, music organization representative (who is representing MusicNL) and Tom Gordon, community representative.

Christmas Film Goes Late

The filming for Hallmark movie Missing Christmas got the okay for a noise by-law extension to film until 3:00am on February 22 and 23 near Bannerman Park at the Colonial Building.

It was seconded by Cllr Ellsworth, which caused Mayor Breen to quip. “Everyone wants to ‘second’ a Hallmark movie.”

The Go Round

If you’re keeping track, Council got through the agenda at the 1:30 hour mark, making this one very long meeting. My dog was not happy I was glued to my screen for so long.

First up, Mayor Breen reminded people that Applause Award nominations are due February 25 at 5pm.

Deputy Mayor O’Leary was at the weekend’s Heavy Civil Association of Newfoundland and Labrador’s AGM and said she’d support a presentation at a future Committee of the Whole to hear more about this association.

Her second point was to mention she has talked to the arts coordinator about discussing the artists need report that was tabled back in 2017 for a production space in the community.

She also spoke on the passing of Helen Fogwill Porter on February 16, who wrote extensively about the City and was a member of a number of artistic organizations and an activist.

Cllr Hickman was delighted to see a second Hallmark movie come to film in the City. 

Cllr Bruce asked for people to be patient when it comes to snow clearing and understands frustration. But they hit zero every time they have a snow event and have to start clearing all over again when it comes to priority levels.

Cllr Ravencroft said she echoed comments of Cllr Bruce and is proud of the work staff do. This isn’t a question of Council not caring and said patience is a virtue and they will do their best and learn from the past to improve services.

“Beyond that, I really don’t like Hallmark movies. If you couldn’t tell by the aesthetic. There’s very few horror Hallmark movies. They could stand with some of that, I think.”

She thanked the Nigerian-Canadian Association for hosting her at the recent Black Excellence Event, which she attended on behalf of the City. She also thanked them for the work they’ve done in the City.

Cllr Burton said that in her opinion, every Hallmark movie is a horror movie.

She also wished everyone a happy Heritage Week and encouraged people if they live in an older home to reach out for more information on heritage buildings.

And after close to two hours, that’s a wrap!