What Odds at City Hall 21 March 2023

As you might have noticed, Council took place on Tuesday rather than the usual Monday; that’s because Friday was St. Patrick’s Day and that meant yesterday was a holiday.

Absent from today’s council meeting were Cllrs Maggie Burton, Sandy Hickman, Debbie Hanlon, and Ian Froude.

First up, Council approved two Crown Land Grants for 46 and 50 Shoal Bay Road and a request for the Crown to reserve a strip of land approximately 6.5 metres in width from the Grant for 50 Shoal Bay Road along Mill Road, to be granted to the City for potential future public infrastructure.

“In 2022, civic 46 and 50 Shoal Bay Road were reconfigured and civic 46 was granted a variance on lot area. Both lots were given development approval. The Applicant subsequently identified a defect in his title and is seeking Crown Grants to perfect his title to the previous lots,” said Cllr Jamie Korab.

The two applications had been referred to the city from the provincial Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture.

Following that up, Council signed off on the proposed Crown Land Lease for 1328 square metres of land in the area of 2684 Trans-Canada Highway for a Newfoundland Power distribution line.

It will be subject to the submission of a Development Application if the Crown Land Lease is approved by the Provincial Department of Fisheries and Land Resources, said Cllr Korab.

Naloxone Training Available

City staff can now volunteer to get access to training on the administration of naloxone and ensure the availability and ready access of nasal spray kits in City of St. John’s facilities.

This act is coming from a recommendation made in a recent Aquatics audit report to determine if the City should develop and implement a Naloxone workplace program.

In past council meetings, Cllr Ophelia Ravencroft has touted this lifesaving and factacting drug that can temporarily reverse the effects of an overdose – and she did so again today.

Cllr Ravencroft said she was thrilled to see this come forward, adding “Naloxone is a critical public resource that we’re seeing more and more need for over time.”

“Putting it in buildings like this, I think, acknowledges our responsibility to the community to make sure the folks using the facilities are able to get that level of safety there. And I think it does a lot to demystify these things too.”

She added she has several kits and can provide training, so people interested in this resource can reach out to her. And she can also put people in contact to get kits.

Policy Plans

The Sponsorship Policy revisions have been approved.

“The current Sponsorship Policy currently allows for the City to provide funding to organizations for events within the City of St. John’s that have budgets greater than $100,000,” said Deputy mayor Sheilagh O’Leary.

“It is recommended that the policy be amended to provide authority for Council discretion related to any potential sponsorships under this threshold.”

Council then approved the 2023 draft plan and table the 2022 report of progress at a future regular meeting of Council.

The city is in its 5th year of its 10-year Strategic Plan, Our City, Our Future, and you can check out 2022’s progress report on page 39 of the agenda.

For this year staff have added 39 new initiatives, and some of the projects have multiple phases and can take several years to complete. Some of those new projects include a complete flood hazard mapping for six streams, which is contingent on funding. The advancement of the Cycle Path is also there.

Cllr Ron Ellsworth said “This is our report card. This is where we look at ourselves and see where we are, what’s going on. Where we need more effort to stay on track and get things done. But also an opportunity for us to be looking forward.”

Presentation Matters

The Presentation Convent’s exterior renovation plans as well as a glass stairwell component was signed off on by Council.

Located at 180 Military Road, it’s being renovated to bring in dwelling units, converting it from a convent. In a past Council meeting they voted to remove the heritage designation from the rear of the building to allow for these renovations.

And as in previous cases, Cllr Ravencroft abstained from voting due to a conflict of interest; her mother is a senior financial officer for the Presentation Sisters and has a fiduciary interest in this.

And on another housing development, Council voted to consider rezoning land at 214 Waterford Bridge Road from the Institutional Zone to the Apartment 2 Zone and approve the draft terms of reference for a Land Use Report.

After Council receives a satisfactory Land Use Report, Council will then refer the application to a public meeting chaired by an independent facilitator for public input and feedback.

Jendore Ltd. – which lists Fred Cahill as its sole director – wants to build a four-storey Apartment Building at 214 Waterford Bridge Road, with 85 dwelling units and need the area rezoned.

Cllr Ellsworth declared a conflict and abstained from voting.

Cllr Jill Bruce – on behalf of the absent Cllr Burton – announced that at the next regular meeting of the St. John’s Municipal Council she would move to amend the St. John’s Pool By-Law to update its definition of ‘pool’, and to address location compliance with respect to the Canadian Electrical Code.

Then Cllr Ravencroft – also on behalf of Cllr Burton – announced she would also move to amend the St. John’s Sign By-Law to update its provisions as they relation to mobile signs located at Home Occupations and Home Offices, and to update the provision is it relates to signs located outside the site of the business advertised. 

Effective today, Bob Warren has been appointed to a three-year term on the Local Board of Appeal.

Janway Apartment Plans Move Forward

Council voted to adopt-in-principle the resolutions for St. John’s Municipal Plan Amendment 10, 2023 and St. John’s Development Regulations Amendment 20, 2023, regarding four proposed apartment buildings at 20 Janeway Place.

For some background, the city received an application from NL Housing to rezone land at 20 Janeway Place from the Open Space Zone to the Apartment 1 Zone for an apartment building development, explained Cllr Ravencroft.

The property is provincially owned and is designated and zoned Open Space but she said the area isn’t formally an area of recreation, she said. It was zoned this way to prevent development near a now long-gone helipad. However she said you’ll find a lot of these “vestigial” pieces of land that have been zoned that could be changed – and said this is one of them.

She also said this is a Rapid Housing Initiative project funded by the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation.

“Apartment building is a Permitted Use in the A1 Zone. A Municipal Plan amendment is required, but a St. John’s Urban Region Regional Plan amendment is not needed, as the property is designated regionally as Urban Development,” she said.

And naturally, people wrote in against the proposed development. One person cited that one of the reasons they loved living in this area was the open space so they were opposed to losing it.

They added, “This is such a quiet, peaceful and safe area to live but the addition of apartment buildings so close to our street WILL detract from it. I was shocked and dismayed to hear about this proposed rezoning. There is so much unused land elsewhere in Pleasantville why overcrowd this special area with buildings packed so closely to one another??”

Another person voiced concerns about asbestos contamination in the air and soil. And (gag with me a spoon) someone even wrote in; “Keep the “pleasant” in Pleasantville.”

Others were supportive, writing that they supposed rezoning and that it “made sense.”

Cllr Ravencroft commented that she’s aware that residents have concerns about the proposed development but said she’s a strong supporter of this initiative, citing a number of reasons for it. She pointed to the well-known issue of homelessness in the city and the pressing need to create affordable housing stock.

She added this area is ripe for further densification, it’s accessible, and there are plenty of amenities already nearby.

She said she’s standing with her residents; the 1250 plus people who are currently on the waitlist for housing, and the hundreds of people who are experiencing homelessness.

“Those are voices that by and large have been wiped out of political conversations for decades now. That have been held back… And as we’re watching this, the increasing inequality in our society, I think this is probably the prime point: we need to make sure we’re listening to those voices. We’re hearing what they have to say. We’re amplifying and answering their needs.”

She said projects like these do just that.

The motion was carried unanimously.

The next step is that it will be referred to the NL Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs with a request for provincial review in accordance with the Urban and Rural Planning Act, 2000. 

When the amendments are released by the province, it will come back to Council for consideration of adoption. From there, there will be a commissioner’s public hearing.

Council then voted to adopt-in-principle the resolutions for St. John’s Municipal Plan Amendment Number 9, 2023, and St. John’s Development Regulations Amendment Number 19, 2023 regarding two apartment buildings at 4 Merrymeeting Road.

This comes from Brookfield Plains Inc. for its plans for two apartment buildings at 4 Merrymeeting Road. The subject property is currently within the Institutional District and Zone, Heritage Area 1, as well as the St. John’s Ecclesiastical District and Mount St. Francis Monastery is designated by both the city and province.

The company wants to renovate the Heritage Building to make six residential units and build a second four-storey apartment building on the property that will house sixteen dwelling units. So to go ahead, they need a Municipal Plan amendment to the Residential Land Use District and a rezoning to the Apartment 1 Zone is required to consider the development.

And lastly, an information note.

“Several of the City’s by-laws need to be amended to adopt the updated versions of the National Building Code, the National Plumbing Code, the National Fire Code, and the Life Safety Code, said Cllr Bruce.

“These Codes are regularly updated – approximately every 5 years – to take into consideration changes in safety and structural requirements, new products, and new construction/installation methodologies.”

So there’s no vote but she said it’s recommended the Adoption of Updated Codes – 2023 By-Law be adopted by Council at a future Regular Meeting. 

The Go Round

Cllr Carl Ridgeley said he was at an event earlier today at St. John’s Bosco School in Shea Heights called Dreams Take Flight. Several children from Atlantic Canada, including some local kids, will be heading to Disney World in April for a one-day trip that’s sponsored by Air Canada. So he wanted to thank the airline and volunteers for making this happen.

Cllr Ravencroft said that tomorrow is the start of Ramadan.

As the representative of Clean St. John’s Cllr Bruce touted the upcoming Super Speak Off. The event is taking place on May 4 at 6:30 p.m. and will be hosted at City Hall, and she’ll also be a judge. The contest is for grade six students who can recite a poem or rant on a select number of topics. You can find more information on that here.

Finally, Deputy Mayor O’Leary spoke, saying today was World Down Syndrome day and encouraged people to celebrate the contributions they make to the community.

As well, she asked people to not feed our bird wildlife, pointing to the spread of Avian Flu and that the swans at Bowring Park recently died as a result of suspected cases of Avian Flu. While people think they’re helping the birds by feeding them, she said this is a spreader event.

Deputy Mayor O’Leary also wished the Iranian community a “Happy New Year.”