St. John’s council rejects two developments, defers another
Plans for apartment expansion, bed and breakfast quashed
St. John’s city council unanimously rejected a proposed rezoning on St. Joseph’s Lane in the area of Signal Hill – quashing a developer’s plan to expand an apartment building with an additional 14 units.
The decision was made at the council meeting Tuesday evening, with area residents in attendance smiling and appearing pleased with the outcome.
Two public meetings on the matter were previously held, in May and September of this year, with residents expressing several concerns with the development – ranging from the shortterm nature of some tenants resembling more of a hotel than an apartment – to parking, traffic, and snowclearing concerns that would come with an additional 14 units.
The apartment building currently has 34 units that are a mixture of shortterm and long-term leases ranging from as frequently as a night or a week, to a month or a year.
Coun. Maggie Burton motioned to reject the rezoning of 22 St. Joseph’s Lane from a residential high-density zone to an apartment medium-density zone.
Coun. Hope Jamieson seconded, stating residents’ concerns were warranted. Jamieson pointed out that traffic and parking are “very serious issues” in the Signal Hill area.
While Mayor Danny Breen pointed out the development appears reasonable at a glance, the details were worrisome for area residents.
Breen expressed concerns with the “proliferation of short-term rentals” causing problems, and said if the building were to house more long-term tenants, council may have voted in favour.
However, he said the proposal for the additional units and the possibility of them being leased nightly or weekly means it wouldn’t “become a part of the neighbourhood.”
Some councilors said the building plans were well done, including Coun. Sandy Hickman, who said it was one of the “nicest” building designs they’ve been pitched, and Coun. Jamie Korab gave “props” to the developer for the “great design.”
Hickman added he fully agrees with concerned residents and noted “it’s their neighbourhood.”
Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’leary said an approval to rezone the area could set
a worrisome precedent to open the area to all kinds of development opportunities in the future.
Meanwhile, an application to convert a residence at 32 Rostellan Pl. to a fourbedroom bed and breakfast was also rejected.
Burton, Coun. Ian Froude, and O’leary all expressed safety concerns posed by additional traffic that might come into the cul-de-sac as a result of the bed and breakfast – there’s no sidewalk and it’s in a school zone.
Area residents submitted 19 letters of concern, including petitions.
Burton motioned to reject the application with further discussion.
Hickman seconded the motion, and after a short discussion, with O’leary and Froude citing safety concerns – especially for pedestrians – no councillors opposed Burton’s proposal to reject the application.
In another discretionary use application decision, council unanimously voted to defer.
An application to construct two sixunit buildings at 9 Great Southern Dr. was deferred to give councillors more time to look into complaints area residents made about a greenbelt that would be affected by the development.